Kingdom Hearts: Dark Hearts
by WornAndOneWinged
Summary: There is a secret tale hidden within the story of Kingdom Hearts. When the Heartless destroy the home of Kira, Tsuki and Roka, things only get worse for the three friends. As each of them go on their own adventures, they slowly learn about the connection they have with Sora, Riku and Kairi. -ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. Major character death, but they'll come back later!
1. One Day, We'll Be Smart Enough

_**~Be sure to check out the T Rated sequel, KINGDOM HEARTS: SCATTERED HEARTS. It's still in progress, but I'm doing my best to complete it!~**_

_**~Songs from Dark Hearts and Scattered Hearts are now on my WornAndOneWinged Youtube account!~**_

_**~Original character RP pages are now on Facebook! Just search up the characters' name and add "-Kingdom Hearts" to the end of it (Kira- Kingdom Hearts, Tsuki- Kingdom Hearts). Stop by for a chat whenever you like. Or at least check the pages out so that you can finally see what my characters look like! Thanks!~**_

_**Sup, guys!** Just a quick note! If you're looking for a story that's violent, gory, emotional, maybe a little romantic in some parts...well this isn't the story for you. Yet. See, since Kingdom Hearts has a storyline suitable for kids, I've made a conscious effort to make sure that this story stayed true to the essence of the original game! However, by the second half of this fic, it does start to get a bit darker. There's a minor **torture scene**(just saying), a couple of the main characters die tragic deaths etc. Please just bear with all the cliché stuff in the first half, it was the only way I could start the story properly! But, yknow, hopefully you enjoy this all the same!_

_I hope I've done a good job of making it so this story could actually fit into the Kingdom Hearts timeline. And I hope you're ready for adorable Mickey Mouse-ness! My original characters are the main characters Kira, Tsuki and Roka, and then there's also the main villain Ikari. I hope you enjoy reading their stories as much as I've enjoyed writing them!_

_If you're having problems with pronouncing the names, it's:  
Kira: Keer-ah.  
Tsuki: Soo-kee.  
Roka: Row-kah. (As in row row row your boat~!)  
Ikari: Eee-kah-ree._

**Destiny Islands**

The golden sun was slowly sliding up from behind the vast horizon; the very horizon that sheltered the Destiny Islands from the outside world. Rays of light streaked the glittering ocean and were only just beginning to spread across the sand on the beach. The sky was turning pale blue with a few swatches of dark grey clouds painting it here and there. Destiny Islands was a world made up of warmth and carefree days for those who lived there. A place where nothing terribly exciting happened, but they had each other and that was all they ever needed.

Tsuki, a five-year-old girl, was dragging a heavy bag across one of the smaller islands. Slow backwards footsteps kicked up sand as she struggled to move the bag onto a large wooden platform that was affixed to the island and jutted out over the water. This was the smallest island of the three that made up this world. The other islands were the Main Island, where everyone lived in a small, peaceful town, and the Play Island where Tsuki and her friends would spend their days having their usual fun and enjoying each other's company.

Tsuki got to the small island from the Main Island by her father's boat. The cylinder shaped island was raised up a few metres out of the sea and had to be supported by tall planks of wood. In order to get to the top of it, she had to use a sturdy wooden ladder that was permanently attached to part of the wooden planks.

An unusual tree grew there. Rather than pointing upwards, it stretched outwards and bore star-shaped fruit called Paopu fruit. Legend told that if two people who truly care for each other share one of the fruits, their destinies will intertwine and their hearts will be bound together for eternity.

Tsuki dropped the bag, stood on the hard ground and looked around for her best friend, Kira, but couldn't see her anywhere. She decided that Kira was probably just a little late. She placed her arms behind her back and began scraping the ground with her shoes in light, swift kicks to pass the time. The warm summer air ran its fingers through her long ginger hair that flowed down to mid-back length. But then, she could hear the footsteps of someone else who was walking behind her. Tsuki dared to turn around and barely had time to gasp before she was attacked.

"I got you, I got you!" came the easily recognisable high-pitched voice of Kira.  
Kira clung to her friend's back and Tsuki fell to her knees under her friend's weight.

"Gagh! You're too heavy!" Tsuki laughed as she playfully pushed her away.  
After giving Kira's short purple curls a quick ruffle, she gestured for her to follow her across the bridge to the other  
island. Tsuki stopped at the end of the tiny cylinder-shaped island and set down the bag.

"What's in there?" Kira asked in her innocent four-year-old tone.

Tsuki emptied the contents of bag onto the hard sand so that Kira could see.  
"They're building supplies," Tsuki explained.

"What're we buildin'?" Kira asked.

"Well, I thought of a cool way that we can watch the sunrise together!" Tsuki said.

"How?" Kira wondered.

"Help me make it and you'll find out."

Kira bent down to examine the different things that had been in the bag. There were two long ropes, some planks of wood, some medium-sized rocks and a jar of nails.

"I figured that Dad wouldn't mind if I borrowed this stuff from his tool shed," Tsuki giggled as she shared a knowing smile with Kira.

The two friends got to work using the rocks for hammers as they nailed the wood together. They were just onto the last piece when they heard someone coming up behind them. Kira and Tsuki turned around to see a boy who looked about the same age as Kira approaching them.  
"H-hi!" he called with a shy wave. He had dark blue hair and his eyes were like a watery sky.

Tsuki glared up at him angrily from her crouching position on the ground.  
"This is our place. You're not special enough to come here," she growled.

Kira stood up and bent over to look the boy over closely. She had her eyes squinted intelligently and her hands were rested on her hips. After making a decision, she turned to Tsuki and smiled.  
"He doesn't look too bad! Can't he play with us?" Kira pleaded.

Tsuki still didn't look too sure.  
"What are you doing here, anyway," she demanded.

"I saw your dad taking you here on his boat," he pointed at Tsuki. "And I asked my dad to take me as well. I just wanted to see what you were doing. I thought it might be nice to make some new friends," he shuffled his feet nervously.

Kira looked at Tsuki with wide eyes.  
"Please, Tsu? He looks special enough to me," she begged.

Tsuki couldn't resist her friend's cute little smile and finally gave in.  
"Alright, you can be our friend, I guess."

Kira cheered and turned to the boy.

"What's your name?" she asked him excitedly.

The boy looked shy and couldn't make eye-contact with Kira when he replied.  
"I'm Roka," he said.

"I'm Kira and this is Tsuki. Nice to meet you!" Kira beamed.

Roka suddenly forgot his shyness and returned the two girls' smiles. He walked over to the planks of wood that Kira and Tsuki had been hammering.  
"What are you building?" he asked.

Tsuki bent down and picked up a rock and some nails.  
"Not telling~! If you want to find out then you can help us make it," she smirked brazenly as she offered Roka the supplies.  
Roka took the rock and the nails and nodded his reply, giving her a friendly smile. Kira, Tsuki and Roka worked together until they had finished what they were making. It only took the three of them about ten minutes.

"It's a swing!" Kira cried, clapping her hands.

They tied the ropes of the swing onto two posts and threw the base of the swing over the side of the platform.  
They had to slide down the ropes to get to the piece of wood so that they could sit on it. The swing was the perfect size for the three of them. Kira sat in the middle and Tsuki and Roka sat on either side of her.  
The sun was still making its way up into the sky, now coloured in light purples and blue mid-tones. Kira loved the way the cool breeze felt when it gently touched her face and her hair. The rocking motion of the swing and the wind on her face gave her the sensation that she was flying.

"Do you think that there are any other worlds out there?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Tsuki looked out to the horizon. Kira and Roka followed her gaze.  
"Could be. I guess we'll never know," Tsuki said matter-of-factly.

"Never… ever?" Roka gasped.

"Probably not. But maybe one day when we get bigger, then we might be smart enough to think of a way," Tsuki said, a sense of genuine hope filling her voice.

Kira, Tsuki and their new friend Roka sat together on their hand-made swing and enjoyed the first of many happy sunrises to come; unaware that each sunrise would bring them to a day where their lives would be turned around forever.


	2. Not So Far Away

**Destiny Islands- 10 years later **

Kira's Journal

_Kira (Age 14): That's me! I'd say I'm a reasonably bright and happy girl, but I'm still trying to find the young adult inside myself. I would prefer a calm and peaceful life rather than one of excitement and adventure. I'd do anything for my friends Tsuki and Roka, I'll stick by them till the end!_

_Tsuki (Age 15): She's been my best friend since we were little kids. She's brave, mature and is always looking for fun and a change of pace. She can come across a little bossy, but that's only because she's a leader rather than a follower._

_Roka (Age 14): He has been a very good friend of mine since we were little kids. He's shy, sensitive and very sweet. We always have a lot of fun together._

_Denzel (Age 10, Final Fantasy VII): A boy who lives on the Main Island. I can't remember exactly how he became my friend; he just kinda showed up with his friend Marlene one day and joined in when me, Tsuki and Roka were playing on the island._

_Marlene (Age 6, Final Fantasy VII): A little girl who lives on the Main Island. Despite her young age, she fits in quite well amongst our small group of friends. She admires Denzel like an older brother._

_Penelo (Age 17, Final Fantasy XII): A girl who lives on the Main Island. She baby-sits Denzel and Marlene and often ends up joining in our fun. She's kind of like the big sister of our group._

Lately, Kira had been finding it hard to escape the strange dreams she'd been having lately. Whenever she was sleeping, she would find herself having thoughts that she couldn't explain. She could hardly even comprehend them. She often found herself thinking about a familiar place. A place that looked very similar to her home. Every evening, three friends sat on a Paopu tree, looking out at the horizon. They watched the sun set just like Kira, Tsuki and Roka watched it rise. Kira could never see the three friend's faces; she only knew that there were two boys and a girl. Whenever Kira tried to imagine what they looked like, the image would blur or disappear completely. It was as if something didn't want her to find out who they were. It was strange how similar the place was to her home. But she reminded herself that there could never be another Destiny Islands.

Kira also thought about darkness. A terrible darkness that pulled her in, taking her to a strange place where the floors had stained-glass pictures of people wearing black coats imprinted on them. On this particular afternoon when Kira was dreaming about darkness, she had to face strange black creatures that tried to attack her in her mind. But as scared as she was, she defeated them easily with a sword that her vision presented her with. When the creatures were finally gone, the darkness returned and Kira was swallowed by it once again.

When Kira opened her eyes, she could see the cloudless blue afternoon sky. She could feel the warm sand that she was lying on and she knew she was back on the island. Kira sleepily sat up and yawned loudly, but her tired back protested and she decided to lie back down again. When she put her head back on the sand, she looked up and saw an upside-down Roka staring back at her. Startled, Kira cried out and pushed herself up again. She turned and tilted her head upwards to see Roka who was bending down to look at her. He laughed in amusement.

"Oh, give me a break, Roka," Kira laughed.

"Kira, you tired old goof-off! It's so typical of you to be sleeping on the job," Roka said half-heartedly with his arms crossed over his chest.

He looked at Kira, tapping his arm with a finger as he waited for an explanation.

"No! I was in this weird place and there were monsters and... hey!" Kira was interrupted by Roka as he pushed her over. He laughed again.

"You still have dreams about monsters in your closet?" he said with a smirk.

"It wasn't a dream! If anything it was a _nightmare._ But it was real! ….Wasn't it? I don't even know anymore," Kira said, thinking it over as she got up.

Roka gave a satisfied _hmph _as he grinned at her. Kira decided to change the subject so that she didn't have to talk about the scary place anymore. The darkness was so strange and unreal that she didn't want to spend another minute thinking about it.

"So, are we going to start working on the raft today?" Kira asked.

Roka nodded and pointed to the three other kids who hung out with them on the Play Island (now just referred to as "The Island.") They were further down the beach, apparently laughing at something one of them had said.

"Marlene, Denzel and Penelo said that they were going to help us out with finding supplies that we'll need," Roka explained.

"Where did Tsu go?" Kira asked, looking around for her.

Roka pointed to a space behind Kira. She turned around and saw Tsuki standing there, looking much like an older sister scolding her younger siblings. She was wearing her usual black and brown coloured shirt that was slightly too long for her and black three-quarter length leggings.

"Come on, Kira, we can't get this raft finished if you keep messing around!" Tsuki said. Her words sounded serious, but her expression was soft and showed that she wasn't trying to scold Kira.

"And we can't finish it if we don't start it, so let's get to it!" Roka added.

Tsuki called for their other friends to join them. Marlene, Denzel and Penelo came running, carrying the provisions they had gathered.

"What have you got?" Tsuki asked them, eagerly.

"Rope! And a lot of it!" Marlene replied with a cute smile.

She dropped her pile of rope into Kira's arms and Denzel and Penelo did the same.

"Yeah, I think this will be enough," Kira groaned, straining to hold the big pile of rope in her arms.

"You should probably put that down, Kira. You look like a rope monster!" Penelo exclaimed.

"Marlene, save me! The monster's gonna get me!" Denzel joked as he ran and hid behind the young girl.

"You don't scare me, monster! Go away!" she held out her arms as she pretended to be Denzel's noble protector.

Everyone laughed as Kira walked unsteadily to the unfinished raft and dropped the rope next to it.

"You know, we're going to miss you guys when you leave," Penelo gave Tsuki a sad smile.

"Hey, we won't be gone forever," Tsuki reminded her.

"Of course! We'll have an adventure or two, and we'll be home before you know it!" Kira giggled.

"Is there anything else you want us to help you with?" Denzel asked.

"No, we can take it from here. Thanks, guys," Roka smiled.

"I'm sure Kira's especially grateful that you did her share of work!" Tsuki remarked with a cheeky wink.

Roka waved a playful finger in front of Kira's face.

"Don't think you're getting out of it that easy! You're on food collection duty," he said.

Kira scowled, but decided not to stay mad.  
"I guess I deserve it for falling asleep," she grinned in submission.

So Marlene, Denzel and Penelo went off to do their own thing while Kira began looking around the island for food that they could take on their trip. She found coconuts, a seagull egg, three fish and some fresh water from the spring. Next, she had to find mushrooms and she knew that were some growing in the Secret Place. The Secret Place was a small shack that was disguised by leaves and branches to look like part of the trees and other plant life. Inside the shack were the wall drawings that Kira and her friends had made over the years by scratching pictures into the wood using stones or sharp sticks. But out of all of them, there was one drawing in particular that Kira treasured the most. That was the picture that her and Roka that the two of them had drawn together, not long after they had become friends. They had scratched it next to the big brown door in the centre of the shack that had no handle; and therefore no way of opening it. The door had been there for as long as she remembered and so she had no desire to see where it led. There had been times when she was younger when she thought that there might be a magical land behind it, but she had given up wondering as she felt positive that she would never find out.

Kira bent down to look at the drawing and smiled. Scratched into the wood was a childish sketch of herself that Roka had drawn and a slightly more decent-looking one of Roka that had been created by Kira. Before taking some mushrooms, she picked up a sharp stick and carved a hand next to the drawing of her face into the wood of the shack. She sketched a Paopu fruit in the hand so that the drawing of her looked like it was giving it to the drawing of Roka. She stood up and admired it.

It took a couple of seconds of silence, but eventually Kira realised that she wasn't alone. She turned quickly to see a black figure standing in a shadowing corner of the shack. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Kira saw that the figure was a man in a black coat.

"Who are you?" she demanded, standing up quickly.

"I would think that the more appropriate question is "who are _you_?" the man replied in a deep voice.

"Kira. Now what do you want?" Kira asked angrily.

"Oh, I know who you are. But do _you _know who you are? Can you look deep inside yourself and recognise what you see?" the man said.

"What's that supposed to mean? Of course I know who I am!" Kira said.

"So ignorant. One would think that someone who holds such power would be more capable of understanding it."

"Well, whatever kind of power you think I have, I don't! I'm just an ordinary girl, okay? Go away, you creep!" Kira threw her arm out as if to shoo the man away.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing."

The mysterious man vanished into a portal of darkness.

Still feeling a frightened and confused, Kira stood there frozen for a few seconds.  
"I really hope I'm just seeing things. That guy was really scary…" she found herself murmuring out loud.

The sound of her own voice calmed her down a little. _I'm probably just a little nervous about tomorrow. That's all._

And deciding to think no more about it, she left the Secret Place with the mushrooms in hand.

...

That evening, Kira and Roka sat on the beach together and watched the sky as it cooled into a dark orange colour. Kira was filled with anticipation.

"What do you think is out there?" she asked Roka.

Roka seemed to be in a daze and took a moment to answer.  
"Out where?" he finally asked.

"Beyond the horizon. What could be out there?" Kira wondered.

"Wait, but what if we ended up sailing all the way around our world and ended up right back where we started?" Roka suddenly realised.

Kira shook her head and stood up.  
"No way, Roka! I mean, _you_ came from another world, didn't you?" Kira reminded him.

Roka looked down at the sand and sighed.  
"That's right… my family isn't my real family. They found me washed up on the beach as a baby. My stepmother calls me a gift from the waves," Roka smiled thoughtfully.

"So that means that if you washed up on this beach, then there _has _to be something out there! You had to have come from _somewhere_ right?" Kira grinned.

Roka nodded and the two friends stayed silent while they looked out at the glittering sea. There was a small gust of cold air and Roka hugged his bare arms. Being quite sensitive to the cold, his outfit was a lot warmer compared to Kira's and Tsuki's. Although he was only wearing a red and white t-shirt, the material was reasonably thick. His pants, a blue colour just a few shades darker than Kira's shorts, were long and did a good job of keeping the boy's legs warm. Kira, on the other hand, barely noticed the cold and breathed in the salty air, closing her eyes.

"Are you sure you don't remember where you came from?" Kira asked without opening her eyes.

"Kira, I told you before. I was really young, so there's no way I can remember," Roka laughed.

"But…it might be a nice place to visit on our journey," Roka said.

Kira opened her eyes and giggled.  
"Yeah, I'd love to see it! All the other worlds too…every single one of them," Kira gingerly brushed her fringe away as the wind blew it in front her of face.

"You're getting a little ahead of yourself, Kira. We don't even know if there _are _any other worlds out there. And, just say that there are…it'd be a little hard to travel to all of them in just a little hand-made raft?" Roka reminded her.

"We'll make it, I'm sure we will," Kira sighed happily and sat down on the sand again.

The two of them exchanged warm smiles before gazing out at the auburn sky, catching a glimpse of the sun's final rays of light.

...

The next morning as they watched the sun rise from their swing on the little island, the three friends were especially excited about what the day would bring them. Their raft was finally ready to set sail.

"You know, the horizon doesn't seem so far away any more," Roka said.

Kira looked at him, puzzled.  
"But, it's not like it's moved or anything," she said it like she was stating the most obvious fact in the world.

Tsuki looked at the two of them and smiled. "I think he means that it looks nearer because we're getting closer and closer to finding out what's on the other side of it," she explained.

Kira nodded that she understood and shielded her eyes from the white light that was coming from the sky. Roka was right; the horizon _did _look closer than it had before. Kira felt a rush of excitement as she wondered about what her and her friends would see on their adventure to other worlds. She wondered about the places she would go and the people she would meet. And because she had put herself in charge of writing everything down in her journal, they would always be able to look back and relive each moment again and again.

"Oh no!" Kira threw her hands up to cover her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Roka asked, startled by her sudden outburst.

"I forgot to bring my journal," Kira groaned.

"Don't worry, Kira. We'll wait here while you go get it."

...

After rowing back to the Main Island to retrieve her journal from her bedroom, she found Marlene standing on the beach.

"Looks like a storm," the little girl said, pointing to the sea.

Kira squinted across the water and saw dark clouds hovering over The Island. It took Kira a moment to realise the seriousness of the situation.  
"Oh no, the raft!" Kira gasped.

Kira ran to her boat and got ready to row back to her friends.

"You can't go back! That storm's getting stronger," Marlene warned.

Kira shoved her paddles into the sand and pushed off.  
"I've gotta make such Tsuki and Roka are okay," she called back to Marlene as she rowed, pushing her arms back and forth and fast as she could.

"Kira! Kira, come back!" Marlene shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

...

When Kira finally reached The Island she saw a huge orb of black darkness in the sky, radiating a force that pulled trees and planks of wood from the ground and sucked it into its orbit where they disappeared. Then out of the sand came the same black creatures that had attacked Kira in her dreams. Having no weapon to fight them off, Kira ran from them, terrified. Tsuki and Roka weren't on their swing (not the she actually expected them to be) so Kira went to look for them at the Secret Place. Instead of the hidden opening, there was a big white door in its place. Finding it to be sealed tight, she decided to look for her friends somewhere else. She crossed the bridge to the smaller island and saw Tsuki standing by the Paopu tree, staring up at the dark ball.

"Tsuki! Where's Roka? We need to get out of here!" Kira cried.

Tsuki back at Kira over her shoulder, her expression very serious.  
"Something is happening. I'm not sure what, exactly; but I think a door is opening. I can feel it calling me closer," she said in a low voice.

"What are you talking about? We've gotta go find Roka…"

"He's coming with us!" Tsuki raised her voice to cut her off. "This is our chance to see the things we've dreamed of. New worlds and new adventures. Yeah, it's a scary place but…but we'll never know what's out there if we don't try now! Staying here doesn't look like much of an option either, so are you coming or not?"

Tsuki held out her hand towards Kira. Darkness rose up around them and Kira stepped forward, reaching out to her. She stretched as far as she could but the darkness engulfed them and held them in place. Kira had no choice but to give up and try to get herself out of the pitch-black darkness.

When she broke free, Tsuki was gone. Kira went back to the door at the entrance of the Secret Place and pulled it open. She found Roka standing in front of the door with no handle.

"Roka!" Kira breathed his name in between pants of exhaustion and panic.

"Kira, stay back!" Roka shouted, holding a hand out to stop her.

The door burst open and darkness flew out of it. When it passed through the panicking Roka, he disappeared and when it touched Kira it knocked her back and she flew out of the shack.  
It threw her across the bridge and she crashed into the Paopu tree. She cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, her knees scraping the ground under her own weight. After regaining her balance she got up and looked over the side of the island. Only to see that there was nothing there. The other islands were gone and the little island that she was standing on was slowly breaking apart. Kira turned around and gasped as she saw a giant shadowy monster that was twice as big as the smaller monsters rising up out of the sand.

Then there was a flash of darkness. It wasn't the same darkness that the monsters were made of. This felt much more powerful.

When Kira opened her eyes, she realised that she was holding some kind of strange weapon. It was mostly black apart from its silver handle and it looked somewhat like a giant key. The monster attacked, but she was able to block and counter it with a powerful hit. Kira smashed the key into the monsters' giant hand and then jumped to hit it across the head. It pounded its fist into the ground creating a dark pit and more of the little monsters came crawling out of it, their movements quick and erratic. Kira finished them off quickly and then went back to fighting the giant monster.  
A few more smacks on its hands and a final blow to its head were enough to destroy it. It crashed to its knees and disappeared in a fog of darkness.

There wasn't much left of the island and it was crumbling fast. Kira felt herself being pulled upwards into the dark ball in the sky. She grabbed hold of a plank of wood that was sticking out of the sand and clung to it for dear life. She was panting loudly and tears pricked the corners of her eyes as she realised how helpless she was. The darkness lifted her legs off the ground. She dug her nails into the wood, determined to hold on for as long as she possibly could, but it only took a few more seconds before she was eventually forced to let go. Kira shrieked as she was pulled into the sky.


	3. The Mouse King

**Traverse Town**

_Yuna (Age unknown, Final Fantasy X & X-2): A smart girl from the Gullwings of Friendly Neighbourhood. She seems to be the leader of the trio._

_Rikku (Age unknown, Final Fantasy X & X-2): A cheerful girl from the Gullwings of Friendly Neighbourhood. She's a little too 'in your face' and has a carefree personality._

_Paine (Age unknown, Final Fantasy X-2): A brave girl from the Gullwings of Friendly Neighbourhood. She appears very emotionless, but will always stand and fight._

_Tifa (Age 20, Final Fantasy VII): A sweet lady who owns the 7th Heaven Items & Accessories shop. She is looking for someone who is very important to her and will do whatever it takes to find him. She also seems to owe someone money for one reason or another._

_Mortimer (Age unknown, Final Fantasy series): Morty for short. He is a strange Moogle creature who works at the 7th Heaven._

"What do you think will happen if I tickle her..?"

"No, she'll wake up!"

"Who cares? The sooner she wakes up the sooner she can leave."

Kira slowly opened her sore eyes but couldn't see much because her vision was blurry. She only knew that she was lying on a bed. "Wh…what was that?" she mumbled, smoothing out the sheets with her hands before sitting up slowly.  
She blinked a couple of times and was finally able to see again. Kira realised that a tiny girl with long blonde hair and an even longer red scarf around her neck was flying in front of her face.  
"Eyaaaah! Who are YOU?!" Kira gasped, pushing herself backwards.

"Yipee, she's awake!" the girl clapped her hands cheerfully.

Kira saw two more flying girls. One had short brown hair; one of her eyes was green and the other was blue. The other girl had spikey silver hair and was dressed all in black.  
"What…_what_ are you?" Kira's eyes were wide in fear.

The three girls grouped together and tried to pose in cute ways. The girl with brown hair started to call out enthusiastically. "We're Y-R-P: Gullwings of Friendly Neighbourhood!" she cheered.

Kira was stunned and didn't know what to say. She just sat there frozen with her lips parted slightly.

"Well…whadd'ya think? We're pretty awesome, huh?" the blonde girl giggled.

"Uhhhhh…" was all Kira could say.

"Oh, foofie. She doesn't like us," the girl flew into a corner of the room.

The silver-haired girl sighed and flew up to Kira again. "I'm Paine. The girl sulking in the corner over there is Rikku." Paine rolled her eyes, obviously not amused.

"And I'm Yuna!" the brown haired girl sang as she twirled around in a circle.  
"What's your name?" she asked, putting her tiny hands up to her chin in anticipation.

"Uh… Kira," she replied hesitantly.  
"How did I get here?"

Rikku flew away from the corner and came back to join the group. She had a big grin on her face.  
"Ooh, I can tell this story! You see, I was out shopping in the 1st District when I saw that there was a big group of people gathering outside the Accessory Shop. When I asked what was going on they told me that some girl was sleeping in the street and she was getting in everyone's way. So I went back and got Yuna and Paine to help me drag you back here and everyone was way happier that they didn't have to trip over you anymore. The end!" she giggled.

Kira was still unsure of why or how she got to this place, so she decided to tell the girls her story. When she had finished, she felt even more confused, but the three girls seemed to understand it a little better than her.

"You know, you're not the first one," Paine said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kira asked.

Yuna sat down on the bed and seemed to be deep in thought. "There have been others that have been taken from their homes. The lucky ones end up here for some reason," she explained.

"And the unlucky ones?" Kira wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she hoped that nothing bad had happened to Tsuki and Roka.

"No one knows what happens to them," Paine said, her voice and expression lacking any emotion. "Your friends could be anywhere."

Kira felt her heart sink. Then she remembered the other thing that she was confused about.  
"Do you know what that weird key thing was? It just appeared out of nowhere," Kira said.

Rikku flew into another room and came back holding the same weapon that Kira had used to fight off the monsters.  
"You mean this?" Rikku strained to keep it in the air.

The key was too heavy for her and she eventually had to let it fall. As it dropped to the ground it disappeared and then reappeared in Kira's hand. Kira gasped and Rikku stared with wide eyes.

"What is this thing!?" Kira cried.

"That _thing _is a Keyblade," Paine said.

"A _what?_" Kira asked.

Yuna smiled and began to explain. "A legendary weapon that can open any lock. You must be a pretty special girl because the Keyblade won't let just anybody use it. So it looks like you're stuck with it and that's a good thing because we need someone to fight off the Heartless."

"Heartless?" Kira was getting even more confused.

This time Paine spoke. "Those monsters that you had to fight are called Heartless. We had to keep your Keyblade away from you because it turns out they were using it to track you down."

Kira's confusion was turning into frustration and she jumped off of the bed."I can't fight Heartless! I'm just an ordinary girl living on an ordinary island with my two ordinary best friends, spending my days doing ordinary things! But this…this is just crazy!"

"You _can _fight Heartless and you _will _fight Heartless!" Paine said, sounding irritated.

"Yeah, we need someone like you to protect us!" Rikku joined in.

Kira was about to protest when the bedroom window smashed from the outside and a small group of Soldier Heartless burst through it. Yuna and Rikku screamed as they held each other and Paine took up a battle stance. She charged at one of the monsters and kicked it in the face, but the soldier her hit hard with its clawed hand and she fell back. Kira didn't have time to think. She clutched the handle of her Keyblade tightly and smacked it hard into the Heartless. Its heart flew out of its body and it disappeared. A few more swipes and the rest of the Soldiers were gone as well.  
Kira was breathing hard as the adrenalin wore off. Yuna tried to help Paine get up but she waved her away and got up by herself.

Rikku was jumping and down with excitement.  
"You did it, Kira! You ate through those meanies like a big Heartless hamburger!" she laughed as she punched the air.

"Yeah…yeah I guess so, but…" Kira still wasn't feeling very sure of herself.

"So how about it? Are you ready to take on the big boss?" Yuna asked.

"…What boss?" Kira said in a small voice.

...

After a lot of persuasion, Kira finally agreed to find the leader of the town's population of Heartless. The Gullwings had given Kira some munny and told her to go and find a woman named Tifa at the 7th Heaven Item and Accessory shop so she could buy a few items to prepare for the battles ahead. _Stupid Heartless, _Kira groaned in her mind. _Stupid Keyblade.  
_Kira walked into the 1st District and received a few strange looks from some of the residents. They obviously recognised her as the crazy girl who was sleeping in the street, however long ago that had been. Kira tried not to make eye contact and continued walking.

"Heya, kupo!" came a voice from behind her.

She turned around and saw a small white creature with a big red pom-pom sticking out of its head hovering in front of her. _What is it with these people and floating in mid-air_, Kira wondered to herself, recalling how the Gullwings used their little wings to fly about.

"You look new. How would you like a grand tour from Traverse Town's cuddliest moogle?" the creature offered.

"Oh, I don't need a tour, but do you think that you could help me find the 7th Heaven?" Kira asked, trying to sound polite.

"Of course I can! As a matter of fact, I work for the lady who owns it! The name's Mortimer, but call me Morty, kupo," Morty said.

"Morty Kupo?" Kira tilted her head as she mused over the strange sounding name.

"No just Morty, kupo," the moogle insisted.

"But, that's what I said!" Kira was starting to get frustrated.  
"Can't I just call you Morty?"

"That's what I was trying to… ! Never mind. Who are you?" Morty asked, shaking his head and making his pom-pom bounce from side to side.

"I'm Kira" she smiled.

Morty led her past a couple of shops until they came to one that had a brightly coloured sign that read: **_7th Heaven Items and Accessories- sky-high quality with super low prices!_**

"Well, I've gotta go run some errands now. I hope we meet again, kupo!" Morty waved his tiny little arms as he left.

"Kupo, kupo, kupo…" Kira sighed.

She opened the door and stepped inside the 7th Heaven. It was a typical store with plenty of shelves placed in neat rows in the middle of the floor. On the shelves were bottles and a variety of different rings, bracelets and other types of accessories.  
A woman in her early twenties was at the counter cleaning empty potion bottles with a white cloth. She had very dark brown hair and her outfit was made up of a white undershirt, a black strapless t-shirt and black skorts. She had pretty hazel eyes and a nice smile. Realising that she had a customer, she put the bottle down and dried her hands. "What'll it be, boys?" she put on a sweet smile as she looked up.  
The woman looked a little disappointed when she saw Kira standing there.  
"Aw, it's a just little girl. Are you alright, sweetie?" the woman asked.

"Hey, I'm not a little girl! Are you Tifa?"

"Yeah, that's me. Wait… you don't work for that guy, do you? Gosh, that's just awful that he's sending a little girl to do his dirty work," Tifa said to herself, placing a hand to her forehead.  
"Just tell him that I'll have the munny by next week at the latest, I promise!" Tifa desperately leaned over the counter, an anxious expression on her face.

"Relax, I'm just here to buy a couple of things!" Kira said, waving her hands in front of her face as if to shield herself.  
She shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out some munny.

Tifa sighed, cleared her throat awkwardly and stood up again. "Sorry about that, I'm in a bit of trouble with this guy and the creep just won't stop bothering me. But look at me, dumping all of this personal stuff on you! What can I help you with?" Tifa smiled.

"Well, I've got a bit of a battle with the Heartless ahead of me and I want to be well prepared for it," Kira shyly rubbed the back of her head.

"Ah~! A brave warrior, are we? Well, then you've come to the right place! Have a look around and see if there's anything that takes your fancy," Tifa said enthusiastically.

Kira turned to look at the shelves to see if she liked anything, but there was just way too much to choose from.  
"I don't even know what half of these things do. What do _you _think I should get?"

Tifa thought for a moment and then seemed to have an idea. She walked away from the counter to one of the shelves. She picked up a bottle that contained a light green liquid. "I've got a special sale this week: buy two potions and get an ether for free! The potions restore your health and the ethers restore your magic power," Tifa waved the bottle around as she explained.

"Magic?" Kira wondered.

"Oh… you haven't learned any spells yet? Well I'm sure a daring traveller like you will probably learn a few spells along your journey. They'll allow you to use elemental magic when you're up against the Heartless. I'll give you one to start you off," Tifa set the bottle down on the shelf and took a small bag out of her pocket.  
"Can you show me your weapon, please?"

Kira summoned her Keyblade and held it out towards Tifa. Tifa took a small glowing orb from the bag and placed it on the Keyblade where it disappeared into the black weapon. She put the bag away and brushed her hands together a few times.  
"There. Now your weapon has learned the Fire spell. Don't try it now otherwise you'll scorch my stock!" she laughed.

Kira dismissed her Keyblade and smiled.  
"So let me guess; every time I use a spell I use up my magic power?"

"Bingo! So I'm guessing you want the items, then?" Tifa asked in an almost rhetorical way.

Kira nodded and Tifa took two potions and an ether from the shelf.  
"That'll be 45 munny."

Kira handed over the yellow and blue coloured munny and put the items Tifa gave her into her pockets.

"Anything else?"

"No, I think this'll do. I'm only going to be fighting one Heartless, after all," Kira had already set her mind on this fact, deciding that neither the Gullwings nor anyone else could make her do anything she didn't want to do.

She turned around and started towards the door.

"Uh… wait a sec!" Tifa called after her.

"Huh?" Kira turned around and saw that Tifa was looking sad all of a sudden.

The woman bit her lip and looked as if she was trying to figure out whether or not she should say something. But eventually, and hesitantly, she spoke. "Maybe you can help me. I… I'm looking for a guy with spikey hair. His name's Cloud?"

"Sorry, I haven't seen him. He a friend of yours?" Kira asked.

Tifa smiled sadly, sighed and walked back to her counter. "Yeah, he's something like that."

"I'll look around for him when I'm done with the Heartless, if you want?" Kira offered.

Tifa's face lit up. "That would be so nice of you. If you do find him, could you tell him…that I'm worried about him and I want him to come home?"

"Yeah, sure I can!" Kira replied.

"Maybe you could give him a kiss for me as well?"

"Wait, what?! S-sorry, I really don't think I can-!"

"Please?"

"No, that's…! That's just…!"

"Just on the cheek?"

Tifa was being very serious about her request. Kira decided that she would have to agree to it, or at least pretend that she was.

"Alright, I guess I can give him a kiss on the cheek," she sighed.

"Thanks Kira, I really owe you one," Tifa smiled gratefully.

...

Kira ran through the streets until she finally came to the 3rd District. The Gullwings had told her that this place would be where she could find the boss Heartless. She went down the stairs to the lower part of the district. Kira ran into the middle of the small and isolated court and looked around, but she couldn't see any signs of the Heartless anywhere.

"Look out! W-whoooa!" a very high-pitched voice called out from above her.

Kira looked up and saw a short figure jumping from the upper part of the district and was about to fall right on top of her. She didn't have enough time to get away and he came crashing down onto her back, immediately causing her to fall forwards. Whoever it was, they were quite heavy for someone so short.

"Gosh, I'm so sorry!"

Kira realised that it was a mouse who was dressed in red and black who had fallen on her. Kira lay there sprawled out on the ground, groaning dizzily.

The mouse noticed that Kira was tightly holding a Keyblade in her gloved hand.  
"Wait a minute. If you're the Keyblade bearer then shouldn't you be with Donald and Goofy?" he asked.

Kira didn't have time to answer. A huge Heartless came crashing down out of the sky, made of silver and purple coloured metal. Kira gasped and quickly jumped to her feet, suddenly feeling very unprepared for whatever was about to happen.

"Come on, let's get `em!" the mouse cried.

Then he summoned his own silver and gold coloured Keyblade and started attacking the Heartless' arms and legs. Kira watched how easily the mouse lunged at the monster and dealt a great deal of damage with each hit. That was enough motivation to get her into a battle stance and she knew that it was up to her to take out the body of the Heartless. She was only able to hit it a couple of times before it sent out of shockwave attack that knocked her back. The mouse skilfully rolled away from it. There was a smash as the hands and feet were both destroyed. Kira quietly growled at the Heartless in frustration as she rubbed a sore arm. Then she and the mouse came together to finish off the body. The mouse used a strong ability and Kira saw the opportunity to try out her magic. She focused her mind, staring intensely at her Keyblade and a ball of fire shot out and struck the Heartless. The body cracked and then disappeared, releasing its heart into the sky. Kira was panting a little, but the mouse looked as though he hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Gosh, you were just super-duper!" he cheered with a cute laugh.  
"I'm King Mickey. I've been lookin' all over for you," Mickey said.

"O-oh, Your Majesty! I'm Kira." Kira bowed without thinking.

"Aw, just plain Mickey will be fine," he insisted.

Kira laughed, feeling a little embarrassed. "Alright, Mickey. You were looking for me?"

"Yup, I was tryin' to kind the Keyblade bearer because if they don't do something soon, then all of the worlds are gonna be taken by the Heartless!" Mickey explained. "And you've got a Keyblade and it looks like you know how to use it. So you must the one I'm lookin' for! Although, I had actually sent my Court Magician Donald and my Captain of the Royal Knights Goofy to find you as well. Looks like I got here first, huh."

Kira tried to process the fact that so much was being asked of her. She might have been able to fight that giant Heartless, but saving the worlds sounded like a little bit too much for her. For _anyone, _for that matter. But especially her.

"Whoo, Kira, you rocked!" Kira heard Rikku's familiar voice cheer.

The Gullwings flew up to them. Tifa was with them as well.

"I might have been good this one time, but there's no way I'm ready to be this hero that you all want me to be. Besides, I need to find Tsuki and Roka," Kira sighed.

"Then go with them," Paine said.

"I'm sure you'll find your friends on your journey," Tifa grinned.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure we find them," Mickey made a determined fist.  
He put his gloved hand out.  
"All for one and one for all!" Mickey said with a smile.

For a moment she was slightly annoyed that her mind had been changed for her, but she quickly realised that it was probably for the best. _And who knows, maybe I'll actually be pretty good at all this fighting stuff, _Kira turned the thought over in her mind. She laughed and placed her gloved hand on top of Mickey's.  
"Alright, I'll go with you," Kira nodded.

"Here's something for you trip," Yuna flew over to her.  
She handed Kira a bag containing 100 munny. She thanked Yuna and put the bag in her pocket.

"But remember: we're not an endless supply of munny. From now on you'll have to find it yourself," Paine remarked.

"Oh, don't be like that! Don't worry Kira, if you're ever in a bind, you come to me, okay?" Tifa said in a motherly tone.

"So Kira, are you ready to get goin'? We can travel to other worlds on my Gummi Ship," Mickey told her.

Kira nodded and put her hands behind her back shyly. Yuna, Rikku, Paine and Tifa waved as Kira and Mickey walked through the door to the 1st District where the Gummi Ship was waiting for them.

...

A woman of about 20-years-old had been spying on Kira. Her dark black hair was wavy and tumbled half-way down her back. Her stunning blue eyes sparkled as they reflected the fluorescent lights around her. She wore a black leather zip-up tube top over two singlet tops; one green, one white. Her pleated skirt was short and grey with a pink ribbon tied around the waist-band. The woman leaned over the side of the wall that bordered the upper level of the 3rd District. She watched Kira and her new friend leave and eventually the Gullwings and Tifa went after them. She pulled a new piece of bubble gum out of the pocket of her skirt, placed it in her mouth and began to chew it leisurely; resting her arms on the wall as she sighed out of boredom. She nearly choked on her gum when she heard a dull _whoosh _as a dark portal appeared behind her. She gasped and quickly turned around to see who was there, her long hair flipping up for a short moment before falling across her back in its natural way. "Don't scare me like that!" she cried, clutching her chest as if she'd just had a heart-attack.

Xemnas stepped out of the portal and it disappeared. "I recall you saying that you were _fearless_," he remarked in his low monotonous voice.

"Er, exactly! I was only kidding. I promise I'll live up to my reputation," she said quickly.

Xemnas' lips lifted into a small smirk as he nodded and walked over to the wall to join her.

"Xemnas, right? I'm Ikari," she held out her hand for him to shake it, but Xemnas completely ignored it; his attention was focused on the striking blue colour of Ikari's irises and he stared into them, though with not too much emotion in his expression. _Not exactly the friendly type, are we? _Ikari kept her rude opinions to herself.

"I heard from one of my members that you have a particular interest in the art of…elimination," Xemnas told her.

Ikari nodded with a sly smile on her face. "That would be the honest truth. Who told you that?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"My newest member, Number XII. Larxene. She wasn't in a particularly contented state when we found her," Xemnas looked at Ikari accusingly.

Ikari glared at the tan-skinned man in front of her. "And why should she be? She was my friend and she betrayed me! I was only returning the favour," she slumped down on a park bench with her arms crossed over her chest. There was a twinge of sadness inside her that made her lips quiver, but she remembered how happy she felt as she watched her one-time best friend disappear off that cliff, her eyes wide in terror as she fell. She would have liked to think that she was gone for good and knowing that she had come back as a Nobody was especially irritating for Ikari.

"Would you care to give me a demonstration of what you can do?" Xemnas changed the subject.

Ikari's face lit up. She stood up off the bench and walked over to Xemnas. Ikari blew a small bubble with her bubble gum and sucked it back into her mouth. "In your Organization you have members with extraordinary powers, am I right?" Ikari had a cunning smile on her face as she began what seemed like a thoroughly prepared and rehearsed speech. "They have the powers of Fire, Water, Wind, Ice, Flowers and Earth. The power of Time, Space, the Moon and they can create Illusions at will. You, Xemnas, have control over Nothingness itself. If things go as planned, your Organization will also have the powers of Light and Darkness. "But have you ever witnessed a power such as the control over Life?" Ikari held the palm of her hand out flat and a tiny transparent figure of a man walking through the 2nd District appeared in it.

Xemnas looked at the man that Ikari was holding in her hand and was genuinely interested in what she was about to do.

"As long as it is a person who is in the same world as me at the time, I can have nearly complete control over them. In order to destroy them, first I have to drain their life force." Ikari placed two fingers on her free hand on her temple and closed her eyes. Xemnas watched as the man choked on a gasp and clutched his chest. Ikari focused her mind and opened her eyes slowly. Her irises had expanded so that that only the beautiful blue colour filled her eyes. The man tried to run away, horror and confusion was plastered over his expression. Eventually he fell to the ground and he stared up with wide eyes. "And in an instant I can take their pathetic life away," the figure of the man disappeared and his heart was lifted up by darkness. The darkness took the heart and a Heartless appeared in its place. Ikari closed her hand into a tight fist before lowering it at her side.

"Astounding. You would be a valued member of my Organization if you would consider becoming my Number XIII?" Xemnas said.

Ikari's eyes widened in shock. "Hey, I'm still alive thank you very much!"

Xemnas raised a hand to calm her down. "It was a mere suggestion. But there has been a change in plans," he explained.  
"I no longer need your assistance in obtaining Kira."

"Wait, what?! Then, what the heck am I doing here?!" Ikari could feel her anger boiling. She was chewing her bubble gum so fast that her jaw hurt. She felt like she had gotten herself excited over nothing and she wasn't happy one bit.

"You misunderstand, Ikari. I need your help with keeping an eye on a companion of Kira. Her name is Tsuki and I expect that if she isn't already in this town, she should be arriving very soon. Discover and develop whatever talents she may have and it won't be long before I am ready to make a decision and choose which one will be of use to me," Xemnas explained.

Ikari thought it over. _What have you gotten yourself into, girl?! Such a boring job…and a cheap one, at that! But…there's something about this weirdo that seems a little off. It could be the fact that he's a Nobody, but I think it's more than that. What's with this Organization thing? They sound bad…maybe even worse than _me! _I don't like that. But I suppose a job is better than no job at all. And I really want to find out more about what these guys are up to. This might be fun after all…_

"Alright, you've got a deal," Ikari finally said. She absent-mindedly blew a bubble with her gum and it almost popped in Xemnas' face. But she stopped herself and sucked it back into her mouth. She cleared her throat and decided to ask a question. "What I still don't understand is why that pathetic little king has taken the wrong Keyblade bearer."

Xemnas shook his head. "The king doesn't know any better. He went searching for a person who wields the Keyblade and he found Kira. If he had met Sora, he might have thought twice before going along with that girl."

"So…which one will we need? Tsuki, Kira or Sora?" Ikari asked.

"I definitely need Sora, but I would like to focus more on obtaining either Kira or Tsuki," Xemnas said.

"More Keyblades means more hearts for you," Ikari realised. "So how do you know whether or not Tsuki wields the Keyblade too?"

"I sensed a lot of power when I watched her on her island. If it's not the Keyblade's power I sensed then it must be something else I can use instead," Xemnas smiled with his eyes narrowed. He opened a dark portal and prepared to leave.

"You can rest easy, Lord Xemnas. I'll get your little Keyblade bearers for you," Ikari gave him a wink.

...

Roka finally woke up and found himself lying on a floating rock that was slowly moving back and forth in a large swamp. Surveying his surroundings, he saw that there was an old and worn down looking house up ahead. As Roka looked for a clue that might tell him where he was, he saw Tsuki floating face down in the murky water. He gasped a large breath of air, threw himself into the water and began swimming towards her. When Roka reached Tsuki, he turned her over so that he could see her face. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving, but she was breathing steadily. Roka guessed that they hadn't been asleep for very long. Placing her on his back, he swam to the shore, away from the house. He wasn't sure if he could trust who lived there.

Struggling to lift the 15-year-old, Roka went through a tunnel and entered a door. On the other side was a brightly lit up district, but Roka had a strange feeling that the cute little town was not as friendly as it seemed.

Ikari was walking across the court and Roka called out to her. Struggling to move in his wet clothes and with Tsuki on his back, Roka took a while to catch up to the stranger. Ikari kept walking, not wanting to have to deal with a couple of kids.

"Please, can you help us? Tsuki…my friend is…" Roka was in a daze and could barely get the words out.

Ikari paused at the mention of Tsuki's name and turned around to see her draped over the back of a boy with blue hair. Trying to not smile, she gasped and ran over to them.

"Oh no, you're _soaking! _Quickly, come with me," she placed her hands on the boys shoulders and they all disappeared.


	4. Curious Worlds

**Wonderland**

_King Mickey (Age unknown, Steamboat Willie, 1928): He insists that I call him Mickey. I don't know that much about him, but I think that he is very brave and has a good sense of right and wrong. I'm already sure that we're going to become good friends. I'm going to help him in his quest in saving the worlds (or, whatever it is!) and hopefully he'll help me find Tsuki and Roka._

_The Doorknob (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): An enchanted doorknob who really only cares about sleeping._

_The Cheshire cat (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): He is just IMPOSSIBLE! We couldn't get a straight answer from him._

_The White Rabbit (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): He was in the courtroom. He seems to be very loyal to the queen._

_The Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): She scares me_... _let's just leave it at that._

_The King of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): A tiny king who never likes to be left out._

_The Playing Cards (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): They are the queens' soldiers and they look pretty tough._

_The Mad Hatter/The March Hare (Alice in Wonderland, 1951): I'd rather not talk about it..._

"So this is a Gummi Ship?" Kira gushed as she admired the inside of the huge rocket ship.

"Yup! We'll travel to a whole lot of worlds in this," Mickey said as he tried to concentrate on the Heartless ships that he was shooting.

Kira walked over to the control panel and ran her hands over the buttons. She was trying her best to resist the urge to press one.

"Be careful, Kira. Ya probably shouldn't touch that…" Mickey warned.

Kira turned to reply but as she did, her hand slipped and she pressed four buttons at once. She cried out as the ship turned side-ways. Kira and Mickey fell onto one of the walls and a few things came crashing down on top of them. She reached up to the control panel and started to press more buttons in attempt to put the ship back to normal, but she only succeeded in making things worse. Sirens were wailing, airbags were exploding and lasers from the Heartless were still hitting the outside of the Gummi Ship.

"Stop! Stop, stop, stop!" Mickey squeaked.

"I'm trying!" Kira screamed as she reached for the buttons.

"The blue button! Push the big blue button!"

Kira did as she was asked and the ship returned to normal. She sighed in relief and spread herself out on the floor. Mickey jumped back into the pilot seat and finished off the last of the Heartless with a few quick blasts. He spotted a small world that was floating in front of them and turned to stop the Gummi Ship above it. Kira, still sprawled out on the floor, was grinning.

"That was so cool! Hey, maybe next time _I _can be captain," Kira laughed.

"Maybe that's not a very good idea," Mickey gave her an anxious smile, preparing to teleport the two of them into the world.

"No, seriously! I'm sure I could handle it!"

...

Kira and Mickey floated down a long passage way and passed many pieces of conspicuous furniture that hovered in place. Mickey flipped in the air before landing in a pink room. Kira tried to rest her feet on the ground as gracefully as she could, but she lost her balance and fell on her back. She grunted as she got to her feet and then turned to Mickey, laughing nervously. Mickey laughed in amusement. Kira noticed that she was standing on a green glowing circle.

"What does this do?" she asked Mickey.

"It's a Save Point. It heals you completely, refills your Magic Power and as long as you keep going back from time to time, usually after completing a world, you'll never get tired and we won't have to waste time by sleeping. We'll come back here once we're ready to leave. It's also a good spot to sit down and record everything that's happened," Mickey explained in way that Kira could understand.

She touched the journal in her pocket and smiled. Mickey started to walk away. "Wait a sec!" Kira called to him.

Mickey stopped and turned around. "We're kinda in a hurry so we don't have a lotta time for questions."

"But you haven't even told me what we're doing," Kira said.

Mickey looked surprised and then he laughed and shook his head. He explained to Kira that there were many other worlds besides Kira's home and Traverse Town. Each world had a heart and a secret Keyhole. Her Keyblade could lock and unlock the door that would lead to its heart. It was Kira's mission to seal each Keyhole and that would stop the darkness from spreading. The Heartless would make it difficult for her to do so, but Mickey assured her that they would be no match for the two of them. Kira tried to ask more questions, but Mickey would only say that she would find the answers by gaining experience through her adventures.

The two of them finally came to a door at the end of the corridor which Mickey opened. But he soon realised that there was only another door behind it.

"Maybe you have to open it a special way," Kira suggested.  
She opened the next door and the same thing happened. Perplexed, Kira began to open the doors faster. She was relieved when she finally opened the last door and she walked through it with Mickey following after her.

Kira and Mickey entered a room that had a tiny door set in the far wall.

"Not _another _door," Kira groaned.

"You got a problem, missy?" the tiny doorknob replied.

Kira and Mickey jumped back in surprise.

"You can talk?!" Mickey cried.

The doorknob yawned sleepily. "I wouldn't be so surprised. There are many things in this world that are even more bizarre than me, so I suggest you get used to it!"

Mickey nodded but Kira was lost for words.

"We need to get through, but you're a little too small for us," Mickey said.

"Oh, no, I think it is because _you _are much too big. Why don't you try the bottle on the table," the doorknob suggested.

Kira shook some sense into herself and did as she was asked. Kira and Mickey took a quick sip from one of the bottles. As Kira was admiring how wonderful the strange liquid tasted, she suddenly realised that she was quickly shrinking. She let out a gasp as the table and everything else began to look bigger. Kira and Mickey were now just the right size to fit through the door.

"So, do you mind if we go through? We really need to find the… oh!" Mickey stopped as he realised that the doorknob had fallen asleep.

Kira sighed loudly. She walked up to the doorknob and was about to try and force it open when Mickey cried out.

"Kira, don't be rude!" he scolded her.

"But we need to get through…"

"Don't worry, we'll find another way."

Kira and Mickey walked around the Bizarre Room and tried to find a way forward. They couldn't go back the way they came because they were too small to reach the door and there was nothing of interest in the previous room anyway. Kira tried feeling around the walls hoping to find another door, but had no luck. They were almost about to give up when all of a sudden, a strange purple cat appeared on the table.

"Hello, friends," the striped cat said.

Kira and Mickey stepped back so that they could get a better look of the cat on the giant table.  
"Well…hello there? Who are you?" Kira was amazed at how the cat had just appeared out of thin air.

"My name is what I am," the cat replied.

Kira and Mickey exchanged perplexed looks. Mickey finally spoke to the cat. "Alright, _what _are you?"

"A Cheshire Cat. I can help you if you can help me," the Cheshire cat said.

"What do you need?" Kira asked.

"Nothing… so _you_ must need help with nothing."

"No, we need help to..!"

The Cheshire cat disappeared and Kira and Mickey were left standing by themselves. They were almost certain that they were alone again when the Cheshire cat appeared behind them. They spun around to face him.

"Oh, so you _do_ need my help. You would like to find the next room, true?" the Cheshire cat asked.

Kira and Mickey nodded. The Cheshire cat grinned wildly, showing all his white teeth.

"But you are wrong… it's not you who needs to find the next room…" he snapped his fingers.  
"It's the next room who needs to find _you!_" he laughed as Kira and Mickey disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

...

After getting their bearings, Kira and Mickey found themselves in a grassy room. They were standing behind a podium that was in front of a large, angry-looking queen sitting on a high throne. Looking around, Kira saw very peculiar characters. There was a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and was carrying a watch and many red and black playing cards.

"The Queen of Hearts… the accused…" the white rabbit pointed to the queen and then to Kira and Mickey as he introduced them.  
"Members of the jury… loyal subjects…"

A short man with a tiny hat waved his hand in the air.

"… and the king," the white rabbit sighed.

As Kira was trying to figure out what was going on, the queen raised her booming voice that seemed to shake the walls of the room.  
"_What do you have to say for yourselves?!_" she shouted.

Kira stuttered as she tried to speak, but it was Mickey, appearing to be much braver, who replied. "I'm sorry? There must be a mistake. You see…"

"_Silence!_ You are charged with the theft of something…err… very important! How do you plead?" the Queen demanded.

"Not guilty! Whatever it is we didn't do it!" Kira cried in one breath.

"Ah-ha! You are now charged with lying to the queen! **_Off with their heads_!**" the queen screamed.

Kira clutched her neck as she processed what the queen said. The playing cards jumped and charged at Kira and Mickey. Mickey jumped away from the podium and summoned his Keyblade. Kira nervously did the same and joined Mickey in fighting off the card soldiers. She used her fire magic and took out a few of them with a couple of shots. One of them threw themselves at Kira and knocked her down, but Mickey came to her aid and smacked the soldier across its back. She thanked him and focused on taking out the cards. But she was stopped short by the Cheshire cat who appeared in front of her.

"Move!" Kira cried.

"Oh, how rude! It seems you need some thinking time," he clicked his fingers again and Kira and Mickey disappeared.

...

Kira opened her eyes and realised that she was sitting on one of the many comfortable chairs that were placed around a big table. Mickey was sitting next to her. Across the table was a strange man wearing a big green hat and a brown hare that had a very distracted expression on his face.

"Would you care for tea?" the man asked Kira and Mickey, gesturing to the tea cups and ingredients that were on the table.

Mickey shook his head and started to get up. "No thanks, we need to get going…"

"Oh, yes please!" Kira interrupted. She was relieved that she got away from that battle with her head still firmly attached to her body.

The man took a cup and a teapot and began to pour Kira's tea. "Would you be able to help me with thumpthing?" he asked as he handed Kira the cup.

Kira took it from him and nodded as she drank. Mickey eyed the hare and then looked worriedly towards the gate behind them.

"Kira, we should go now," Mickey said quietly, reaching to tug softly on Kira's sleeve.

"Why ith a raven like a writing desk?" the man said in his slurring voice.

Perplexed at the silly question, Kira looked up from her cup and saw that the man had a serious expression on his face.  
"Oh… I don't know," she answered honestly. "Why _is_ a raven like a writing desk?"

The man quickly put down the cup that he was going to give to Mickey and the hare stared at Kira with wide eyes.

"I beg your pardon?" the hare said.

"Why… is a raven like a writing desk..?" Kira anxiously repeated the riddle.

"What kind of a thilly questhion ith that?!" the man cried.

"But you just said…" Kira tried to say

"Kira, I don't think this is a safe place…"

The man and the hare stood up and looked very angry. The Cheshire cat appeared on the table. "Oh my, it looks as though you have made them mad," he said quietly.

Kira tried to protest but she was too confused to find words. She glanced at Mickey and expected him to say something, but he didn't.

"But it's not all bad…" the Cheshire cat said.  
"After all… madness feeds the fires of darkness…" the Cheshire cat snapped his fingers.

The man and the hare were surrounded in a cloud of darkness. Their eyes turned yellow and the two bodies merged together and turned into a large Heartless. Mickey back-flipped off the chair and summoned his Keyblade. Kira, knowing that there was no way she could do anything as impressive as that, simply got up off her chair and pushed it to one side so she could step away from the table. The Heartless roared and showed its hare-tooth fangs.  
Kira shot it with a fire ball and the Heartless took damage and fell over. She shot it with two more when Mickey yelled at her.

"Don't use up too much magic power!" he cried as he struck the Heartless with a powerful blow.

Kira took the ether from her pocket and drank it. She immediately felt her mind focus and she couldn't resist using one more fire ball.

"Kira!" Mickey scolded her again.

The Heartless scratched Kira with its claws before she had a chance to get away. Mickey charged at it and Kira used a potion to heal herself.

"You can't rely too much on magic! If you remain idle for too long, the Heartless will have a chance to attack," Mickey explained.

Kira nodded and dealt a finishing blow to the Heartless. It disappeared immediately and Kira stood there, hunched over and breathing hard. The funny man and the hare returned with a snap of the Cheshire cat's fingers. A blank picture frame appeared on the back wall and the man and the hare's bodies shattered and the pieces flew into the blank border. Their sad and still faces could then be seen staring back at Kira and the others from inside the frame. The Cheshire cat danced around.

"Well done, very well done. Such efforts should be rewarded," he snapped his fingers and Kira and Mickey appeared in the Bizarre Room.

The Cheshire cat danced over to the sleeping doorknob and knocked playfully on the door. The doorknob stirred and snored louder, opening its mouth. Kira saw a glowing light inside its mouth and a shining keyhole appeared. Her Keyblade suddenly appeared in her hand and a beam of light shot out from it and struck the keyhole. It clicked loudly as it locked.

"Kira, you did it! You found the Keyhole!" Mickey cheered.

Kira looked at her Keyblade and watched the last sparkles of light fade from it.  
"What do I do now?" Kira asked, still in amazement of the magical event which had just occurred.

"It's time to go to a different world now," Mickey laughed.

Kira smiled to herself as she thought how easy this was going to be. All she had to do was travel around the worlds, fight a few monsters and seal a few keyholes. It actually sounded like a lot of fun. _And I just know I'll find Tsuki and Roka. I have to._ Kira escaped from her thoughts when she saw Mickey taking out a small green block from his pocket. She watched him place it inside the keyhole.

"What's that for?" Kira asked.

"It's a Navi-G Piece Gummi Block. If Donald and Goofy are still looking for the Keyblade Bearer… that's you… then they might come to this world. If they do come to this world and they find this Gummi Block, they will be able to install it on their Gummi Ship. The Gummi Block will take them to the world we are about to travel to now. They'll be kinda like clues to our whereabouts," Mickey explained.

Kira nodded, but she wasn't sure if she understood completely. She didn't really feel like asking him to explain it again.

Mickey helped Kira to jump onto the table in the middle of the room. The pulled the second bottle down to their mouths, took a small sip and returned to their normal sizes in a puff of white smoke.

As they jumped off the table and left the Bizarre Room, they didn't notice the small flicker of darkness inside the doorknob's mouth as the Keyhole sealed shut once again.

The two of them walked back to the Save Point and Kira took out her journal. She wrote about all the strange people she had met. Then Kira and Mickey stood facing each other while Mickey teleported both of them back to the ship.

**_~Hollow Bastion~_**

Tsuki woke up and found herself lying on a hard bed, a thin sheet draped over her. The air felt cold and unfamiliar. She opened her eyes in a panic as she began to recall the events from the night before.

"Kira! Roka!" she croaked.

Someone beside her put a hand on her shoulder.  
"Relax, Tsuki, everything's fine," said a voice that sounded like it was trying to be friendly, but wasn't having much success.

Tsuki turned to see a boy the same age as her with silver hair and piercing aquamarine coloured eyes that stared down at her. His eyes were like an uncharted ocean; cold and lonely or wonderful and unpredictable depending on how you looked at them.

"Who are you… and how do you know my name..?" Tsuki asked, hesitating slightly.

"I'm Riku. I know you're name because your friend told me," he said.

"Friend?" Tsuki asked.

Roka walked up to them. "Welcome back, Tsu!" he smiled.

Together, Riku and Roka explained everything that had happened. They said that the worlds were in danger and darkness had been let loose in many worlds, causing them to be swallowed up by the Heartless like Destiny Islands had been. Roka said that he saved Tsuki from drowning and Ikari had taken them to stay with a witch called Maleficent. After his home on the islands disappeared, Riku had woken up in Hollow Bastion where Maleficent had recently taken him in.

As Tsuki drank in all the new information, she finally asked a question. "What happened to Kira?"

Roka shook his head and sadly closed his eyes. "She wasn't with us," he said in a voice just above a whisper.

"Oh," was all Tsuki could say.

She tried to tell herself that they would find Kira eventually, but her common sense told her that it might not be possible. _She could be anywhere….there are probably thousands of worlds we don't even know about._ She shook herself out of her thoughts and asked another question. "Riku, you said you came from the Destiny Islands…how come I've never seen you before?"

Riku looked perplexed. "You lived there too? But it's such an 'everybody knows everybody' kind of place. How is it possible that we've never even met _once?_" he pondered.

Tsuki was about to speak, but as confused as she was, she shook her head and decided to forget about the whole matter.

...

"What makes you think I would want any acquaintance with those children? You surprise me, Ikari," Maleficent glared at the girl standing in front of her.

Ikari walked a circle around the witch as she spoke to her in an arrogant tone. "Oh, I would think about that, my old friend. You've gotten me out of quite a few sticky situations many times before…would it really be _that _difficult to help me again?"

Ikari smirked and stopped walking around Maleficent. She stood with her back to the evil fairy. Ikari turned to look at Maleficent over her shoulder with a smug grin on her face.

"What do you want with the children, anyway?" Maleficent asked.

"They do not concern you. The girl, Tsuki… I need her for things that _you_ don't need to know about. As for the boy…I'll probably get rid of him later. For the time being, Roka is the reason that Tsuki will willingly agree to stay here. That is, if you'll give me and the other two a room..?" Ikari prompted.

"But what is in this for me?!" Maleficent snapped.

"Aw, why so mean? You've always been like a mother to me!" Ikari pouted.

Maleficent rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Besides…all I'm asking for is a room or two. Once I've finished helping the Organization, I'll be out of here. And remember, this will only put me in more debt to you, so if you ever need my help with anything, you can ask and I won't refuse," she winked at Maleficent.

Maleficent glared at her, but then nodded and sighed. "I suppose I could find room for you somewhere," she mumbled.


	5. Intense Situations and Piano Theory

**Deep Jungle**

_Jane Porter (Age: Early 20's, Tarzan 1999) A pretty and smart young woman who is the daughter of a scientist. She has come here to study the gorillas._

_Clayton (Age: Unknown, Tarzan 1999) He looked pretty tough at first, but he's actually just a big scaredy cat! Although he seemed to be working with Jane, he had other plans for the gorillas. I hope they'll be okay!_

Kira and Mickey's bodies materialised in the new world. Mickey must have misjudged the exact location as they appeared in mid-air, an alarming distance from the ground. Gravity hit the two of them and they fell. Kira looked down but quickly closed her eyes as she saw a large body of water below her. She could feel herself become immersed in it and she heard the splash as she went under. She gasped, but water quickly filled her mouth and she kicked her legs to push herself out of the water. But before her tongue could taste the air again, both of her feet got caught in a vine or weed that was underwater. She opened her eyelids and endured the sting of the water in her eyes. She reached for the long plant on her leg and when she touched it she could feel that it was slippery and scaly. With a sinking feeling, Kira saw that what she had thought was a plant, was actually a _snake_ that had deliberately wrapped itself around her legs. The snake turned its head around to look at Kira with a threatening glare. Panicking, Kira thrashed her arms wildly as she tried to swim up as the snake tugged on her legs harder. Kira's screams were trapped inside her mouth as she kept it shut; not wanting to swallow any more water than she already had. She was about to close her eyes in defeat when she saw Mickey's Keyblade fly into the water; a long stream of bubbles chased after it. The Keyblade connected with the snakes' head and it quickly let go of Kira's legs. She saw a chance to escape and kicked with her arms and legs until she burst out of the water. She gulped a huge breath of air and ended up choking on it. A pair of gloved hands pulled her onto the shore.

"That was a close one!" Mickey cried as he summoned his Keyblade from the water.  
He peered into the murky depths and saw the snake cowardly swimming away.  
"And don't you come back!" he called after it.

Kira coughed again and wearily swam to the bank of the swamp.  
"Thanks, Mickey," she rasped, finding it difficult to keep her balance on her shaky legs.

Mickey laughed and looked pleased with himself.  
"Do you wanna rest for a little while?" he asked Kira.

"No, we've got to find the Keyhole," she shook her head, coughing again.

The two of them saw that they were in a huge green jungle with nothing but trees, grass and a couple of hippos swimming around in a swamp. They leaped across grassy mounds that stuck out of the water until they reached the other side of the marsh. Mickey suggested that they use the ivy to climb up to the tree tops. After they reached the top, they progressed through the jungle using swinging vines that seemed to form an aerial path. Mickey skilfully jumped across the trees, but Kira was lagging behind.  
"Hey, can we slow down?" she panted.

As Mickey turned around to reply, a branch that Kira was resting her foot on snapped and Kira fell. Mickey saw her disappear and a string of shrieks followed after her. Thinking quickly, Mickey dove out of the tree and plummeted after Kira. He aimed his Keyblade at her and fired a Blizzard spell at her a split second before she hit the ground. Mickey flipped and landed next to her. Kira was encased in a block of ice and her body was unharmed, even after the huge fall. In her frozen form, Kira's eyes were shut tight as they had been when she was bracing herself to hit the ground a few moments before. Mickey used Fire to quickly melt the ice and Kira stood up, shivering.  
"How did you do that?!" Kira gasped in amazement.

"Oh, just another simple spell. I'll give it to you if you want," Mickey offered.

Kira nodded as Mickey was already taking out a glowing orb from his pocket. Kira held out her Keyblade and Mickey placed the orb inside it. The Keyblade shone as it drank in the new spell. Kira slashed the air with her Keyblade.  
"Blizzard!" she cried.

A few ice crystals flew out. Kira smiled and turned to Mickey. "You got any more of those spell things in there?" she asked, trying to reach into the tiny king's pockets.

Mickey jumped back and covered his pockets with his hands.  
"I'll give them to you when you have a little more experience," Mickey waved a finger around as he smiled.

Kira let her arms droop in disappointment. Mickey looked around and saw that they were in a sophisticated camp with a single tent and plenty of science equipment lying around. Kira ran to look at flasks of coloured liquid, but Mickey stopped her. "Someone's coming," he whispered.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a table. A man carrying a long gun and a young woman emerged from a path leading into a deep part of the jungle. The woman was shouting angrily. "We came here to, _study_ the gorillas! Not to hunt them! This is research and not some twisted form of _sport_!" she cried.

"But think of the money, Miss Porter! Bucket loads of it!" the man retorted, rubbing his fingers together.

"I don't want to hear it, Mr Clayton, I want you to use that gun only to protect me and Daddy. Not to harm those poor creatures!"

Kira looked at Mickey. "Why are we hiding, again?" she whispered.

"After our visit to Wonderland, I've realised that we have to be careful about who we can trust. We should try to avoid anyone we don't know," Mickey whispered back.

Kira realised that Mickey was right and gave a nodding gesture to tell him so.

After the pair of jungle explorers had gone back to their tent, Mickey jumped out from behind his hiding spot. Kira quickly followed. They entered a part of the jungle that was filled with walls made of yellow rock. They formed a barrier around the small clearing that they were in. There was a path that took them out of that area, but just led to another clearing that looked almost exactly like the one they were in before. Kira heaved in a huge breath of air and sighed loudly.

"Are you tired already, Kira?" Mickey laughed.

Kira sighed again. "I don't like this world. I don't like walking either," she whined.  
"We should go with those other people and look for gorillas, or whatever it was they were talking about. I'm sure it would be more fun than this."

"Oh, fun indeed," a deep voice behind them said.

The two of them turned around and saw the man that they had seen earlier. The young woman had called him Mr Clayton.

"Oh, hi there. We're just passing through," Mickey smiled politely.

"So, you wouldn't happen to be searching for the gorillas, right?" Clayton said slyly.

Kira shook her head side to side. "No, no gorillas. We're just kind of sightseeing," Kira quickly assured him.

"Lies!" Clayton revealed a long gun that he had been carrying. He aimed it at Kira and then switched his target to Mickey. Changing his mind, he pointed it at Kira again. She gasped and jumped back.

"Please don't!" Kira shrieked, waving her hands in front of her.

"Tell me where the gorillas are or I'll shoot!" Clayton demanded in a voice that made Kira shudder.

Mickey jumped in front of Kira and summoned his Keyblade.

"I'm losing my patience. Tell me where they are!" Clayton shouted.

"Okay! We will," Mickey said.

"Wait, what are you doing? We don't know…" Kira whispered.

"Just please put down your gun first and we'll take you to the gorillas," Mickey said reassuringly.

Clayton hesitated, but he dropped the gun on the ground. Before Clayton even knew what was happening, Mickey fired a lightning bolt at him which struck him directly on the head. "Thunder!" Mickey cried, and another electric bolt hit him.

Clayton cried out and Mickey took Kira's hand and they ran off further into the clearing. They reached a dead end, but Mickey kept pulling Kira along. Kira screamed as she thought they were going to hit the rock wall, but Mickey jumped high into the air and the two of them rested on top of it. As they saw Clayton storm off back to his camp in a raging fury, they were certain that they were safe.

"Can you give me _that_ spell?" Kira said, out of breath.

Mickey reluctantly put the Thunder magic orb into her Keyblade. Then he jumped off the wall and landed on the other side of it. He called for Kira to follow.

"But it's so far down! I'll hurt myself!" she yelled back.

Then there was a loud gunshot and Kira felt pain shoot up her leg. She slipped and fell backwards and landed hard on the dusty ground.

"Kira, give me a sec and I'll help you!" Mickey called down from the top of the wall.

Kira drank her last potion and took up a fighting stance. The pain in her leg had disappeared completely. _This is my chance to prove to him that I __**can **__take care of myself!_

"No, stay there! I can take him on!" Kira called back.

Clayton fired two more shots that Kira deflected with her Keyblade.

"Are you sure?!" Mickey cried.

Kira landed a combo hit and Clayton staggered, so she hit him with another to throw him to the ground. "Positive!" Kira laughed.

Clayton got up again and fired four shots at a time. Kira quickly dodge rolled away from them.  
"Get back!" Kira cried.

She fired a thunderbolt at him and followed it with a fireball. Then she jumped as high as she could and landed a critical hit right across his chest. He collapsed to the ground and then tried to shuffle away. "But you're just a little girl..!" he said in a cowardly tone.

Kira casually planted the end of the Keyblade in the ground and rested her arm on the handle.  
"Don't underestimate the power of a Keyblade wielder," she gave him a playful wink.

Clayton slowly got up and Kira could see that he was about to raise his gun again. But Kira got to him first and shot a fireball. Clayton yelped and ran off back to his camp. Kira laughed to herself and ran to the high wall. She summoned all her strength and, surprisingly, was able to jump to the very top of the wall.

Mickey applauded her. "Wow, you're doing great! Almost as good as me! You even just learned the High Jump ability, and that's a tough one to master!"

Kira laughed weakly, but nodded as she realised that she _was_ getting good at the things that Mickey was good at. She felt proud of herself. Kira saw that they were near a huge waterfall that made a noise that sounded similar to, but much louder, than the waves in the beach back on Destiny Islands as they crashed on the shore. Mickey began climbing up the rocks on the side of the water and Kira reluctantly followed. They climbed higher and higher, having to jump to reach some rocks or use the ivy to climb across others. But finally they reached a small cave at the top of the waterfall. A single tree stood there and blue butterflies covered a part of it. Mickey carefully touched one of them and they all flew away, revealing a little Keyhole in the tree. He looked at Kira as she summoned her Keyblade. A beam of light shone from it, hitting the Keyhole and making a click sound as it locked. Mickey took out another Navi-G piece and placed it inside.

"Gosh, I hope Donald and Goofy will be able to follow these clues. They never were the…brightest," Mickey laughed.

"Oh, don't be mean, Mickey. But I'm sure they'll be able to follow us. I'd like to meet them," Kira smiled.

"Don't worry I was only joking. They have been more loyal to me than any of my subjects," Mickey said.

"Alright. Let's go to the next world! I hope there won't be too much walking involved," Kira sighed.

**_~Hollow Bastion~_**

"Focus! Try blocking with one hand while attacking with the other. If you don't learn soon then the Heartless will destroy you!This place is infested with them," Ikari wrinkled her nose and took up a fighting stance.

Tsuki stepped back, feeling very vulnerable, but did as she was told. "Okay, I'm ready…one more time!"

Ikari nodded. She snarled as she charged towards Tsuki, fingers stretched out and aimed at her face. Tsuki instinctively flinched and shut her eyes tightly, but then raised one hand to block the attack and used the other to strike Ikari with a quick blow. But as she did, a flash of light radiated from her hand. She squinted as she opened her eyes and saw that she was holding a strange key-like weapon in her hand. As Ikari was thrown backwards, she flipped in mid-air; her short skirt nearly flying up all the way. Landing hard on her feet, Ikari quickly looked up at Tsuki. Seeing the thick silver and red Keyblade in Tsuki's hand, she gasped. Of course, the one who was the most shocked was Tsuki.

"What the-? Ikari, what have I done!?" Tsuki cried.

Ikari shook her head in disbelief. "Xemnas was right…" she mumbled.

After explaining the power of the Keyblade, Ikari then told Tsuki that what she had was a Keyblade from the dark realm. Her destiny had been decided and she must now follow the path of darkness.

"But I'm a good person! Darkness is bad, right?" Tsuki gasped.

"Yes, that's very true," Ikari tried to sound genuine. "But listen, you now have a special job. We've only been training for a little while together and that was only so you could defend yourself against the Heartless. But now, Tsuki, your mission will be to conquer the darkness inside you and stop anyone who defies the light! And I'm going to help you!" Ikari cried dramatically.

A surprised smile was beginning to form on Tsuki's face. She could taste adventure; it was already sweet and yet nostalgic on her tongue. She wanted to go and search for Kira, but for now her job was to remain in Hollow Bastion and train with Ikari. Maybe soon she would be able to journey to other worlds and find her lost friend, but that would have to wait.

"I think we're going to become good friends," Ikari said, forcing down a snicker.

Tsuki nodded seriously and then took up a fighting stance.  
"Again!" Tsuki readied her Keyblade.

...

Roka was sitting at a table in the library reading a book about piano theory. He drummed his fingers on the wood of the table and tried to follow the instructions in the guide.

"G, D One…C One, B Flat, A, B…no, B Flat…" Roka mumbled.

Riku appeared from behind a book shelf, but Roka was too busy to notice. Riku walked up to him and tilted his head slightly to see the title of the book.

"You play piano?" he asked.

Roka jumped and looked up, shocked. Panting as he tried to calm down, he closed the book and put it down.  
"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Roka finally said.

Riku shook his head and picked up the book on the table. "I could never understand this stuff," he said as he flicked through the pages.

Roka smiled and shook his head.  
"My stepmother has made me practice almost every day since I was 8 years old," Roka was still smiling.

Riku sat down on the chair at the opposite end of the small square table. He rested his chin on his hand and looked across at Roka with a concerned look. "So…you've endured piano lessons every day for..." Riku counted in his head.  
"For six years straight?"

"I get weekends and summer vacations off," Roka chuckled.

Riku breathed a small laugh, but then looked serious again. "But really, wouldn't that have been a little boring?"

Roka thought for a second. "Well, I guess a little. But not as bad as it sounds."

"What about your stepmother? Is _she_ as bad as she sounds?" Riku asked.

"Huh? Of course not. So don't get that stepmother stereotype image in your head 'cause she's not a witch in disguise. She's only wanted what was best for me," Roka said quietly.

Riku tapped the table with a gloved finger. "Um…so what happened to your parents, if you don't mind me asking," Riku asked, hoping his curiosity hadn't crossed a line.

Roka looked like he was about to say something, but just sat there with his mouth open. Then he looked away and had a slightly sad expression on his face. "I…I'm not sure. I've never known…even my stepmother doesn't know…" he mumbled finally.

Riku seemed to understand. He got up and patted Roka's shoulder a couple of times. "Sorry if I made you feel bad. I wasn't trying to," he apologised.

Roka shook his head.  
"It's alright. Do you have any problems with your parents?" Roka asked as he looked up and Riku.

Riku closed his eyes and took a few steps away from the table.  
"Family isn't as important as friendship," was all Riku said as he turned away.

"What do you mean?" Roka sounded a little worried.

"Sora's gone and deserted me for his new friends. Kairi's the only one I can depend on and so I've got to do everything I can to find her. After all, it's partly my fault that the three of us got separated anyway," Riku walked away.  
He disappeared behind the tall bookshelves and the Roka heard the heavy door scrape shut.

Roka was a little confused; the conversation he had just had with the boy he hardly knew was extremely weird. But he didn't have much time to dwell on it as Tsuki's light footsteps were soon heard coming down the staircase of the Hollow Bastion library.

"Roka, I came to say goodbye!" Tsuki grinned as she came to a stop.

"Goodbye? What for?" Roka wondered.

"Ikari's taking Riku and me to a new world to do some fighting and maybe find Kira and that Kairi girl!" Tsuki squealed.

Roka looked disappointed. "And I've gotta stay here, right?" he groaned.

Tsuki crouched down to get to his level on the chair. "Aw sorry, Roka. But remember, I wouldn't have a reason to come back here if I didn't know you were safe and waiting for me," she smiled warmly.

Roka knew what she said was true and decided not to protest."Alright, but don't stay _too_ long. I want to hear all about the new world!" he laughed.

Tsuki lightly ruffled her younger friends blue hair and then ran out the same door Riku had gone out of.

"See you soon, Roka! I'll be back soon, I promise!" she called back to him.

The door made the loud scraping sound again as she left. Roka folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them. Then he sat up again, picked up the book and continued practising piano theory.


	6. Pixie Dusted Dreams

**Neverland**

_Tinker Bell (Peter Pan, 1953): A cute little pixie who was super cute, but really feisty. She helped us fly to Neverland._

_Captain Hook (Peter Pan, 1953): The captain of a pirate ship in Neverland. He didn't exactly do anything mean to us, but I could tell straight away that he's a bad guy. Although, it was his crew that I had to watch out for!_

_Ikari: I can't help but be suspicious of her, but Tsuki seems to trust her, so I guess I shouldn't worry too much. She had really pretty blue eyes, though, I feel a little jealous!_

Kira looked at the pretty stars that she could see from the huge window that went around the whole of the cockpit of the Gummi Ship. She thought it was strange how the stars always looked so far away when she gazed out of her bedroom window back on the Destiny Islands. But now, high up in space, they were so close she would have been able to reach out and touch them if she wasn't inside the Gummi Ship. She sighed dreamily and rested her head on the arm of her chair. Maybe she would have fallen asleep if it weren't for the sudden jerking of the ship as it came to a complete stop. Kira sat up and quickly turned to see Micky pulling the steering wheel towards him.

"What? What is it?" Kira gasped.

Mickey jumped off his chair which swivelled around in fast circles as he leaped into the air. Landing lightly on the ground, Mickey ran to the window and pressed a finger against the glass.  
"See that?" Mickey pointed.

Kira got up off her seat and quickly walked over to where Mickey was standing. Peering out, she saw a ship even bigger than the Gummi Ship that was flying towards them. But it didn't have the same kind of spaceship-like appearance that Mickey's ship had. This one looked like something that belonged in the sea.

"A pirate ship!" Kira marvelled.

"We should probably find a way around. I doubt the Keyhole would be in a place like that," Mickey said to himself.

"B-b-b-but but but….aww…" disappointed, Kira trudged back to her seat.

Mickey found a warp hole close to the pirate ship and steadily flew the ship into it. The Gummi Ship zoomed through the warp hole and Kira felt like someone was playing hopscotch on her stomach. But Mickey seemed like he had done this sort of thing many times before. The ship reappeared outside a small world in a swirl of light. Mickey left the Gummi Ship in space and zapped the two of them into the world. Resting her feet firmly on a hard stone surface, Kira saw that she was standing on the terrace of a clock tower. She took a few steps forward and got a sense of vertigo as she looked down. But soon she lost her dizziness and looked out to admire the beautiful town bathed in midnight. It seemed very different to the worlds she had been to before; plainer and not quite as elaborately built. A sudden whispering from Mickey snapped her attention.  
"Quick, this way," he pulled Kira into the shadows.

Voices of happy children grew louder and they saw a flying boy land of the clock tower. He crowed like a rooster as he stood on one of the hands of the clock face, consequently making it 15 minutes late. The group of children didn't stay long and soon took off towards the stars, flying out of sight.

"Second star to the right and straight on 'till morning," Mickey laughed to himself.

Kira shook her head, not understanding, and then walked back out of her hiding spot. A sparkling yellow light stopped her in her path and a tiny fairy with delicate clear wings flew up in front of her face.

"Tinker Bell!" Mickey grinned. The fairy jumped up and down in the air and the grabbed Kira's nose, trying in vain to pull her.

"You know her?!" Kira cried as she swatted the little fairy.

"Yup, I've… wait, be careful with her! I've seen her before a few times in the past," Mickey laughed.

Realising she wasn't going to get Kira to understand, Tinker Bell turned red with anger and pointed frantically to the stars. Kira followed the little fairy's finger and stared at the inky black sky.

"You want us to follow those kids?" Mickey guessed.

Tinker Bell nodded and then tried tugging on Mickey's nose, then flew up above their heads and sprinkled sparkling yellow dust onto them. Then she smiled and Kira and Mickey couldn't help but feel happy. Just like that, they lifted into the air. Mickey grabbed Kira's hand and led her upwards.  
"C'mon, off to Neverland!" he laughed.

"Never…what? Wait, Mickey!" Kira giggled as the fairy led the way.

...

"Alright, Captain. I'm officially kicking you out!" Ikari ordered as she threw the door open to the captain's quarters.

A startled Captain Hook dropped his spyglass and turned to look at the intruder. "What are you doing in here?!" he demanded.

"You heard me. Out!" Ikari quickly swiped the hat from the captain's head and placed it on her own black locks.

"What is…what is all this! What is your problem, urchin?!" Captain Hook growled.

"So, you're not going to leave so easily? Very well, then I guess I'll just have to explain myself! Are you gonna hear me out, or not? I promise I'll make it fast," Ikari assured him.

"Enough of this, you scurvy brat! Mr Smee!" Hook called.

A short fat man wearing a striped shirt entered the room. He gave an awkward salute. "At your service, Cap'n!" he said in a nasally voice.

"Escort this little she-devil outside at once! She has no business being here," Hook said, angrily folding his arms.

"Yes sir! Right away, sir!" Mr Smee said, turning on his heels to face Ikari.

He took a few steps toward her. "I'm sorry, miss, but I'm going to have to ask you to…"

Ikari hit the ground, threw her leg out, swept it across the floor and struck the little man with her foot. He flew and hit the wall with a loud crack. Ikari put her hands on the floor and pushed herself back up to her feet.

Hook stared at her with his eyes bulging. "What was that you were saying, my dear..?" he finally said.

"That's much better," Ikari smirked.

Mr Smee was groaning as he picked himself up off the floor, shaken, but not injured. "I'm okay…I'll just go and check on the pirates," he slurred as he staggered to the door.

Ikari took the hat off and gave it back to Hook which he angrily snatched and pulled onto his head.  
"So listen, all I'm asking is that you let me use this vessel for a little while," Ikari said in a tone that made it sound more like a demand then a question.  
"Just for training purposes, of course. Then when I'm done with it, you'll need to go to Hollow Bastion and pick up a kid for Maleficent. She'll explain everything when you get there."

"Now, hold on there. I'm well aware of the witch's plot. In fact, I play a pretty decent role in it. But how can you just show up out of nowhere and order me around like this!?" Hook was nearly fuming.

"Man, if you're looking for details then here they are. My name is Ikari and I'm currently working for an organization. A very secret organization. Anything we do is classified so that's all I can tell you regarding that matter, but I can say that it has no effect on you at all. I've taken a young girl named Tsuki under my wing. She's aspiring to be a Keyblade master, but she needs all the help she can get. Seriously, she couldn't swing a key to save her life. Maleficent tells me that your ship is the perfect place for me to train with her and if you would like to stay on our good side then I suggest you let us with no objections. There, is that good enough?" Ikari said, hardly out of breath.

Captain Hook sighed. "I suppose it won't be much of an intrusion if I let you stay until Maleficent needs that boy to come here. I've got something special for him," Captain Hook grinned.

"And what might that be?" Ikari asked, genuinely curious.

"His precious little girlfriend…Kairi."

...

Kira laughed with excitement as she passed each cloud in the dark blue sky. Mickey let go of her hand so she could fly by herself and she took to it like a fish to water. She felt like she could do anything and go anywhere at all. Tinker Bell made a jingling sound to tell them to hurry up as she dashed ahead.

"C'mon, Kira! We're almost there!" Mickey called as he took Kira's gloved hand in his again.

Kira giggled in reply and let Mickey speedily lead her after Tinker Bell. In a flash, they passed the Second Star to the Right. Kira shielded her eyes with her free hand from the bright light that shone from the star. When she took her hand away and looked down, she saw a beautiful and bright island in the middle of a shimmering sea.

"Is that all Neverland?" Kira gasped.

"Yup! The whole thing!" Mickey chuckled.

"It's so big! I wish I could see everything!"

"It would be a fun trip…but Tinker Bell wants us to go up there," Mickey said as he pointed to the sky.

Kira lifted her head and saw the same pirate ship that she had seen from the Gummi Ship window.  
"Wow, we get to go in a real pirate ship! But wait…they're pirates, right? What if they're really _mean_ pirates?" Kira wondered.

"Oh, they are mean. Who knows what they'll do to us if we get caught!" Mickey said gravely.

"Okay, not quite as excited anymore. But if it will help with our mission, then I'll try to be brave!"

...

The Keyblade flew through the air with breath-taking speed and accuracy that it made Tsuki even more disappointed when it crashed right through the ship's wooden wall.

"My…my ship! She's destroying my ship! I can't take much more of this!" Captain Hook screamed, looking around at the five other holes in the walls and floors of the hull, then hanging his head in grief.

"Shut up, Hook! She just needs…well, a _lot _more practise and probably a miracle to…you're doing fine, Tsuki! Keep it up, I'm cheering for you!" Ikari called from the balcony.

Tsuki took a few backwards steps and peered up at the Captain and Ikari. "I'm no good! Seriously, I can hardly even lift this stupid key! I'm too weak…"

"No, no, no! That's not what I've taught you at all! Remember, in order to beat the darkness, you have to know how to control it first. So, bring out all you've got! I want to see all your power! Go, go, _go!_" Ikari cheered, jumping up and down a few times like a little child.

Feeling more motivated, Tsuki concentrated on letting the dark powers out of her heart so she could channel them to her Keyblade. She felt a prickly tingling sensation slide down the back of her neck and the hand that she firmly clutched the Keyblade with started to heat up to the point where her palm was sweating a little. _Darkness…Darkness…Darkness!_ She screamed in her mind. With a strong and swift movement, she circled her Keyblade above her head and threw it into the air. Staring after it, she watched as it disappeared in a circle of orange light. In its place, two medium-sized spheres of darkness began to form and fall into Tsuki's hands.

Ikari leaned over the red, wooden balcony and gazed at Tsuki intently. An excited grin spread across her pale white face. "Yes, she's doing it! Wait till Xemnas sees this, he'll have to pick her for sure!"

Tsuki suddenly realised that she had no control over whatever was happening to her and freaked out. She dropped to her knees and the dark spheres disappeared. She sat there breathing hard with a shocked expression plastered across her pale face.

"I'm sorry…I was scared…I…" Tsuki dared to look up at Ikari and saw that she was hunched over with her head on the wooden barrier.

"This is just freakin' hopeless. I just want to _kill_ something!" Ikari said as quietly as she was able to.

With that, she spun around and walked briskly to the door and went back into the captain's quarters. Captain Hook followed after her, having nothing better to do. Tsuki threw her fist to the ground and gave a short whimper of defeat.

...

Mickey had finally calmed Kira down enough to get her to fly down from the sky and land on the hull of the huge pirate ship. Kira shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked around at the wooden posts and billowing white sails. It suddenly hit her that they hadn't seen a single pirate yet…just as Tinker Bell started to frantically hop up and down in mid-air. Kira stared at the anxious little fairy until she heard Mickey land behind her. He called out her name as she quickly spun around to face him. Then everything went black.

Kira was now 10 years old. She was crouching on the warm sand of the Destiny Islands as she brushed her soft purple curls away from her face, a light breeze swirling around her. In her right hand, she held a small stuffed doll with a pretty face and stringy hair. It wore a small yellow dress and its hair was dark orange. It looked just like Tsuki. Kira sat there smiling at the doll as she combed its hair with her fingers. Then she heard footsteps behind her and turned to warmly greet whoever was approaching and saw that it was her best friend, now 11 years old. It took a few seconds for Kira to realise that Tsuki was incredibly angry as she got closer.

"That's mine! Give it back, Kira!" Tsuki screamed as her outstretched hands reached for the doll.

Kira willingly gave it up as she had the doll snatched from her grasp. Even though she was confused, she still smiled sweetly at her friend. "I found it in a bush and I was keeping it safe for…"

"Penelo was playing hide-and-seek with me and I hid my doll there for her to find it! We looked everywhere and I thought I'd lost it, but it was with you all along!" Tsuki was really fuming now.

Feeling a little intimidated, Kira stood up to talk to her friend. But even so, Tsuki was taller than her and still made her feel powerless.  
"I-I didn't know! I'm so sorry," she said innocently.

Tsuki glared down at her as if she were nothing more than one of the tiny grains sand amongst the thousands on the beach. She raised the doll above her head and threw it as far as she could. Kira followed it with her eyes as it fell into the water rhythmically lapping the shore. It's beautiful ginger hair and tiny body was immediately soaked by the waves before the doll disappeared beneath them. As Kira was about to ask her why she did that, Tsuki lunged forward and shoved her to the ground.  
"You're the worst friend ever!" she screamed.

Kira's body twisted and she landed on her hands and knees with a sharp cry. She looked back over her shoulder at Tsuki before trying to stand up again, but she was met again with her friend's strong hands and she landed on the ground again, on her back this time. "Tsuki, what's wrong with you? Why are you doing this to me?" Kira whimpered as she fought back tears.

"You're the worst friend ever! I hate you so much!" Tsuki screamed as she kicked Kira in her side.

Kira cried out again and rolled onto her stomach so she could stand up. As Tsuki was about to hit her again, Kira grabbed her wrist and pushed her away. Tsuki stumbled back a few steps and then lashed out at Kira who stepped forward and threw her hands to Tsuki's shoulders to make her fall backwards again.

"Just stop it, Tsuki! Please!"

Tsuki picked herself up off the ground and with an icy glare, she grabbed Kira's arms and spun her round, throwing her into the water. This time, Kira didn't even try to get up; a part of her felt that she deserved this for taking the doll even though she was trying to do the right thing.  
"I'm sorry, Tsuki! I'm really sorry!" Kira cried as she lay shivering in the shallow water.

"Shut up!" Tsuki growled, kicking water onto Kira's face.

Kira curled herself up into a ball as Tsuki continued to kick water at her. Then frantic footsteps were heard coming down the beach and she stopped to see who was there.

"No, Tsuki! Don't hurt her anymore!" Roka cried as loud as he could.  
The 10 year old boy splashed through the water to Kira's side and helped her up.  
"Why did you…how could you do this to your best friend?!" he shouted as he helped Kira walk out of the water.

Tsuki stood there looking shocked as she watched tears stream down Kira's cheeks and struggled to fight back her own.  
"But…she…I…" she stuttered.

As Roka was about to yell at her again, a dark corridor appeared behind them and a man in a black hood stepped out of it. He stepped forward and violently tore Roka away from Kira and started to slowly pull him backwards into the portal.  
"Kira, save me!" he cried helplessly.

The man and Roka were still there, but they seemed to be getting further and further away, smaller and smaller by the second. Kira started to sprint to Roka, but although she ran as fast as she could, they didn't get any closer to her.  
"Roka!" she screamed.

With a final burst of strength, she leaped into the air, flying in slow-motion. Everything stopped except her and at last she was an arm's length away from her friend. A frightened expression was plastered over Roka's face and one of his arms was reaching out to her. Kira reached desperately to grasp that arm, but just as her fingers brushed against his, another pair of hands grabbed the back of her vest and pulled her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Tsuki. Her face was so evil and menacing that it made Kira's heart sink. Still in slow-motion, she looked back at Roka who was now disappearing into the dark corridor. Then suddenly, everything started moving at lightning speed. Roka screamed Kira's name as he vanished and she and Tsuki were knocked off the ground. From behind her, Kira could hear Tsuki screaming her name as well. They didn't stop moving. Time didn't slow. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't speak. And all she could hear was her best friend screaming her name over and over again.

...

"Kira! Kira! _Kira! Heeeey!_ _Kira!_"

Her surroundings appeared as a fuzzy haze that was a little painful to look at as Kira opened her eyes. What she saw in front of her looked orange and yellow and was moving closer to her.

"Thank goodness, you're _alive!_" cried a familiar voice.

Everything came into focus as Kira blinked a couple of times and saw Tsuki's smiling face. Memories of her nightmare barked violently in her mind she gasped in fright. "No, please don't!" she screamed.

A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and Tsuki calmly reassured her. "Don't worry, Kira! We're sorting those mean pirates out!"

Kira suddenly realised that her hands were bound behind her by thick rope and she was tied to a wooden, circular post that was a little damp.  
"W-what happened?" Kira asked as she struggled to free herself.

"Oh, sorry! Let me help you," Tsuki smiled.

With an excited grin, she held her hand out and summoned her Keyblade. Kira's eyes grew wide in shock as she watched Tsuki walk behind her and cut the ropes with a swift swipe of her blade and an enthusiastic battle cry. The ropes dropped to the wooden floor of the pirate ship and Kira brushed herself off. Tsuki came back and waved her Keyblade back and forth with a proud grin. "What do you think? Pretty cool, right?" she laughed.

"Yeah! But, look!" Kira summoned her own Keyblade and earned the same surprised look from her friend.

"We both have Keyblades? That's amazing!" Tsuki said.

"I think you've got some explaining to do as well. Where's Roka? And where have you two been?" Kira asked excitedly.

"It's a long story…" Tsuki began to tell Kira everything that happened from when Roka saved her in Traverse Town to when she started training under Ikari.

Kira listened with excitement. In turn, she told her story about ending up in Traverse Town and meeting King Mickey. "Oh! Speaking of which, where is he?"

"You mean the mouse? He's with Ikari talking to the pirates. They kind of knocked you out and tied you to this post. They were probably going to make you walk the plank or something like that. But they're all working it out and making a truce so that no one will get hurt," Tsuki told her.

Kira just stood there, kind of in a daze as everything was starting to sink in. "What the heck happened to us, Tsu?" she said with a small laugh.

Tsuki smiled and shook her head. "I don't know. Do you think things have changed for the better?" she wondered.

"Maybe, maybe not. I mean, no one should have to go through all this stuff…but it's been a lot of fun! I've learned so much and made a lot of new friends. Who could ask for anything else? And as long as you and Roka are safe, I'm happy," Kira decided.

"Yeah, you're right. I've missed you so much, though," Tsuki said with a slight crack in her voice as she stepped forward to hug Kira who hugged back warmly.

As they let go of each other, Kira looked over Tsuki's shoulder at Ikari who was calmly talking with Mickey and Captain Hook.

"So, is that girl your trainer, or something?" she asked inquisitively.

Tsuki nodded and turned around to look at Ikari as well. "Yup, sure is. She's teaching me how to fight with my Keyblade and something about my dark powers," she said as she dismissed her weapon.

"Dark powers? What kind of dark powers?" Kira sounded a little worried.

"You know, I'm not really sure. She says there's darkness in my heart that I can use to make myself and my Keyblade stronger. I'm still trying to figure it out, though," Tsuki folded her arms.

_Isn't she protecting the light like me? Is it a bad thing that she's using the darkness instead?_ Kira thought. But then she decided that nothing bad had happened to Tsuki so what she was doing would be alright.

Mickey came over to Kira and looked her up and down to make sure she was alright when he had finished talking to the others. Kira told him that there was nothing to worry about and Mickey said that there was no chance of getting kidnapped again. "Everything was all sorted out, so don't you worry," Mickey said with a wink.

Ikari walked over to them as well and stared at Kira for a few seconds before speaking. "You must be Kira. Oh, Tsuki's told me so must about you. I'm Ikari, nice to meet you," she said enthusiastically.

Kira looked at Ikari's curly black hair and striking blue eyes. She was undeniably a beautiful woman, but something about her expression made her think that maybe she wasn't as nice as she seemed. She decided to ignore it for now and remembered that she had to reply.

"Nice to meet you too," she laughed with her usual cheerful smile.

"I was just telling the king that the Keyhole isn't on this ship. I'm pretty sure it's back on the clock tower where you started," Ikari said.

_She told us where the Keyhole is. She can't be a bad person, otherwise she wouldn't have given it away. Or maybe she's leading us into a trap? Guess we'll find out…And…why does she know where it is, anyway? _Kira thought nervously.

"So that means we're done here for now so it's time to go, Kira!" Mickey grinned.

Kira was shaken out of her thoughts by that harsh reality check and she looked sadly at Tsuki and gave her another hug. "Don't get into too much trouble, Tsu," she told her.

"Hey, aren't I usually the one saying that to you?" Tsuki laughed softly.

"Just promise me, kay? I don't want to have to come and save you."

"But you would if I was in trouble, right?" Tsuki asked as she let go of her friend.

Kira nodded, "Of course I would! I know you'd do the same, so it's only fair. I'll always come running if you need my help and that's a promise!" Kira said as she punched the air.

"That's good," Tsuki said as she closed her eyes and grinned.

"Well, I'll see you soon, alright?" Kira said as she leapt into the air and began to fly.

Mickey did same and Ikari and Tsuki said goodbye to the two of them as they flew upwards into the sky. Tsuki looked at Ikari with wide eyes.

"Hey, how come they can _fly? _You _have _to teach me!" she beamed.

Ikari tiredly shook her head. "I wish," she groaned.

...

Mickey flew to one of the huge yellow faces of the clock tower and looked around for a good spot to put the next Navi-G piece. Kira heard him muttering to himself as he ran his gloved hands over the bright face as he tried to locate the Keyhole. Not having any luck, he looked over his shoulder at Kira to speak to her. "Try getting your Keyblade to find it," he suggested.

Kira flew backwards and summoned her Keyblade. Crossing the air with it a couple of times, she aimed at the clock and fired a beam of light. A dark Keyhole appeared and etched itself onto the yellow glass. Mickey smiled and nodded at her as he took out the Navi-G Piece and threw it inside, the Keyhole closing behind it. Kira dismissed her blade and flew down to the tower's terrace and walked over to the wall, resting a tired hand on it. She looked up briefly as she saw Mickey land and walk up to her, but then dropped her head and looked at the shadowy floor.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

Kira shook her head slowly. "Just a little tired."

"The Save Point should wake you up, so give it a try?" he suggested.

"Okay then, I lied."

"Lied? So, you're not really tired?"

Kira turned her back and pressed up hard against the wall, then let out a sigh. "It's Tsuki," she said in a low voice.

Mickey didn't reply to give Kira a chance to explain further and stood in front of her in silence.

"It's just, I imagined finding her would be so much different than how it turned out. I thought that after you and I had finished sealing up the keyholes, we'd go to a final world where Tsuki and Roka would be waiting for us. I'd be sad to say goodbye to you, but the three of us would go back to the Destiny Islands when it was restored. That would be it, we'd go on living as normal and everyone would be happy. I'd never have to use the power of the Keyblade again and this world and all the other worlds we've seen would just be distant memories. But now, Tsuki's on an adventure of her own, Roka's doing who-knows-what in who-knows-where and I might get left behind. I'm so confused now."

Mickey stepped up and put his gloved hand around her wrist, comfortingly. "You don't have to be all negative like that, Kira. When we've finished our quest, you can go along with Tsuki and then you'll leave together!" he suggested in his usual cheerful manner.

Kira was quick to retort, "But I'll probably just be in her way!"

Mickey let go of her wrist and jumped onto the edge of the terrace. Kira stepped forward and reached her hand out towards him, afraid of seeing him fall. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'd say that you've gotten a stronger. A _lot _stronger. Not just with the fighting stuff, but you're also stronger at heart. The only thing you need to overcome is your doubt. You have to be more confident in yourself," Mickey told her in a serious tone.

Kira took in the wise words and looked at the ground in shame.

"I may still have a teacher of my own, but Kira…I want you to be my apprentice," Mickey announced with a slight nod.

Kira looked up quickly, stunned, and stared at the mouse king with a gaping mouth.

"You will be my official student and I will be your teacher. I want to teach you as much as I can," Mickey closed his eyes and smiled.

Kira's smile was growing by the second and her whole body tingled with excitement. She could only nod a few times as she couldn't find any words to say. Mickey gestured for her to walk up to the edge of the terrace and he summoned his gold Keyblade. With the stone wall giving him enough height, he lightly tapped both of Kira's shoulders with the blade.

"I dub you, Kira, my apprentice and life-long friend. Congratulations!" he said in a regal tone.

Although the ceremony was something Mickey made up himself, Kira felt very certified and bowed low before the king. "Thank you, Mickey. I'll make you proud," she whispered.

And as the stars shone beautifully above the two Keyblade wielders, they departed in the Gummi Ship, taking off towards their next destination.

**Hollow Bastion**

Riku hadn't been to visit Roka for hours now and there was no news of Tsuki's return yet. Roka sat with the piano theory book closed on the table in front of him, staring at it with a vacant expression. It suddenly occurred to him that he was surrounded by hundreds of books and he could use them to build his knowledge on the situation that he was still trying to adapt to. There were so many questions that he had been tossing around that his head hurt, but maybe if he could find some answers, it would put his mind to rest for a while.

He stood up and taking the hardcover with him he located the place from which he had taken it. Pushing aside one novel to make room for the book on piano theory, he slid it into the gap. Looking down the shelves, he walked towards the first book that caught his eye and hooked his finger around the top of its spine to pull it out of the row of hardcovers that were tightly packed into the old wooden shelf. Brushing his hand over the blank burgundy cover to remove the dust, he opened it to see a picture of the Hollow Bastion castle that hand been drawn in ink by a very skilled artist. The title stated boldly: **~History of Radiant Garden~**

Becoming very curious, he flipped a couple of pages over to get to the section on what the town used to look like. He skimmed over parts and learned that Hollow Bastion used to be called Radiant Garden and was filled with beautiful greenery and pretty houses. Roka didn't even consider the possibility that there was a town in the world he was in now and smiled at the thought of there being normal people not too far away from him. As he read on about the castle itself, he came across a folded piece of paper that had been placed in between the pages. Pushing the book back into its place, he unfolded the paper and saw a complicated looking map of the Hollow Bastion castle that had also been drawn in ink. Roka had always been good at map reading and quickly worked out that somewhere on the lower floor of the castle was a study that belonged to a person called Ansem. Keeping that strange name in mind, he turned more pages before he found information on the man. The book stated that he was once the ruler of the world once known as Radiant Garden and was good and kind to its people; always trying to find ways to make it safer. He also studied the Heartless and the darkness in people's hearts and kept his findings in a very detailed report. But for an unknown reason, Ansem was forced to leave his home and no one had seen him or his report since.

Roka suddenly thought that if he could find Ansem's study, he could learn more about the dark monsters that destroyed the Destiny Islands and maybe even the strange weapon that Tsuki could wield. With the map in hand, he left the library, walked through the main hall and left the castle.

There was a door around the bottom of the castle that led into a bright corridor lit up by high windows. Roka sped through the wide hall easily as he navigated them using the map. Every hall looked the same and he hoped that he wasn't going to get himself lost. He stopped in the middle of an empty room that had three passageways that he could choose from. Roka turned the map around trying to find which way to go but realised that he couldn't find his exact location anymore.

"Okay…so I came through here and the study is here…and I'm…here? No, I'm here," he said to himself.

As soon as he'd finished talking, he heard a gasp coming from further down the corridors and a quick shuffling of footsteps. Roka listened hard and figured out that there was someone down the left hall.

"Who's there?!" he heard Ikari shout.

Roka sighed, relieved that it was only Ikari and not a stranger. He hurried down the left corridor and saw Ikari standing with her back to an elegant looking door at the end of the hall. Roka suddenly realised that the door led to Ansem's study.

"What are you doing here?" Ikari asked accusingly.

"I got bored, so I went exploring," Roka explained in an almost rude manner. "What are _you _doing here?"

"I…got lost," Ikari looked at the ground shyly.

"I thought you used to live here," Roka said flatly.

"Well I…wait, I never told you that," Ikari realised.

Roka leaned against the wall and folded his arms, feeling like he was in a very powerful position at that moment. "Well, the way you know your way around this place suggests this can't be your first visit here. You've actually lived here before, haven't you? And Maleficent has to be more than just a stranger, otherwise she wouldn't have let us stay here so easily, right? She probably took care of you at some point," Roka said.

Ikari laughed a little and started to walk away from the door. "Smart. But you're making it sound like I've got something to hide, which I don't," she insisted.

Roka tried to stare her down, but he felt mean glaring at what seemed to be a genuine smile. He just nodded and turned to leave, casually pushing the map into his pants pocket. "Do I need to escort you out so you don't get lost again," Roka tried to hide a smirk.

"Sounds good," Ikari laughed half-heartedly.

The two of them left the corridors and walked outside in silence. Ikari stopped and turned to look at Roka.  
"Just keep your exploring to the first and second floor levels of the castle where the library and the bedrooms are. Maleficent might not like it if you go snooping around in certain places, okay?" Ikari said seriously.

"Meaning, she has something to hide?" Roka wondered.

"No, it just means she likes her privacy. Nothing wrong with that," Ikari said matter-of-factly.


	7. Heartbreaking Truths

_**~Gummi Ship~**_

Something on the Gummi Ship's control panel was blinking. The red flashing light scared Kira at first, but Mickey seemed calm about it and pressed a few buttons which made a small transparent screen materialise in front of him. An image of a man with red bandages around his face which concealed seemingly dark skin came into view.

"Who are you?" Mickey asked the man in a confident tone.

The man introduced himself as DiZ and although Mickey didn't know who he was, he still looked as though he had met the brooding man before.

"My old friend, I request that you meet with me immediately. I have important matters to discuss with you," DiZ said mysteriously.

Mickey nodded, "Of course. I'll be there soon," he said.

"You can find me in the basement of the old mansion in Twilight Town," DiZ told him as the screen fuzzed with static and disappeared.

Mickey looked over at Kira and smiled. "It sounds like he wants to meet with me alone, so how about I drop you off at Traverse Town and I'll come back to pick you up when we're done?" Mickey suggested.

Kira nodded slowly and folded her arms. "Do you know that guy?" she asked.

"Actually, I do. I didn't recognise him with the strange get-up, but that's definitely my old friend Ansem the Wise," Mickey smiled.

"But he said his name was DiZ," Kira sounded confused.

"I know. I wonder why… oh well, I'll ask him when I see him. Now, back to Traverse Town!"

**Traverse Town**

_Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII 1997): Well, from what I gathered in the five minutes I spoke with him, he's not much of a talker. Kinda rude, too. I still can't believe I actually went through with the request Tifa gave me! It was so embarrassing I nearly DIED!_

Kira pushed open the entrance to the First District and took in the familiar atmosphere of the quiet town. She was greeted with lazy music and the brightly lit up Accessory Shop. She began to walk across the court and up the stairs, making a left turn, then a right as she headed towards the 7th Heaven. When Kira came to the door, she turned the handle and pushed it open, making the little bell on the inside make a welcoming jingle. She smiled expecting to see the friendly face of Tifa standing behind the counter, but as she entered the shop, she realised that a tall man in a cape was standing there instead. He seemed to be looking around at whatever Tifa kept on the countertop and started picking things up and turning things over.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Kira cried, feeling like she had just caught a criminal in the act. She ran over to him and the man looked up at her, revealing spikey blonde hair and blue eyes. The man just stared at her blankly for a long time before Kira finally repeated her question.

"W-what are you doing to Tifa's stuff?" she asked cautiously.

The man blinked. "I was looking for something that would tell me where she went," he said flatly.

Kira couldn't find her words for a moment and wasn't sure whether to stare at his bulky attire or his hidden face. As she looked up at him, she suddenly realised the description Tifa had given her of someone she was looking for.

"You're not Cloud by any chance, are you?" she asked slowly.

"Yeah. Why?" he almost demanded an answer.

"It's just that, when I last saw Tifa, she was looking for _you_."

Cloud looked down forlornly and then walked out from behind the counter. Kira found herself staring wide-eyed at the golden gauntlet he had on his left hand. She was still staring at it when Cloud spoke again. "Can you tell me where she went?"

Kira forced herself to make eye contact with him as she shook her head slowly. "Well, not really. My best guess is that she finally got sick of waiting for you and decided to look for you herself," she put a little bite into that comment.

Cloud still remained expressionless, although any expression he wore would have been hidden by his exaggerated collar. Kira guessed that he was slightly ashamed and that he had a little trouble showing it.

"Did she tell you anything else? Something that might help me find her?" he said without much enthusiasm.

Kira put her hand on her chin as she tried to recall everything that Tifa had said to her and then gasped as she remembered the shop-keepers embarrassing request. She could feel herself beginning to blush and she couldn't decide whether or not to put herself in that awkward position.  
"I…um…well, there was something she asked me to give you," she said in a shaky voice as she avoided eye-contact with Cloud.

The man just stood in silence as he waited to hear what it was. Kira was waiting for him to prompt her, but since he didn't say anything, she decided to continue anyway.

"C-could you come a little closer, Cloud?" she stuttered, barely managing to look at him.

Cloud's eyes narrowed, but he did as he was asked. His sharp metal boots clicked and clacked his every step he took as he approached Kira. He stopped in front of her and waited. Kira motioned with her hand for him to kneel down and he bent his knees and rested on one of them. Kira felt sick as she moved a hand to his face. Cloud jerked his head to the side in shock. "What are you-?!"

"Just hold still, this is going to hurt me way more than it's going to hurt you…" Kira took his face and moved his red collar down a little way so he could see his cheek.

"T-this is from Tifa…" she said, wrinkling her nose a little.

Kira leaned forward, placed her lips on Cloud's cheek and then quickly pulled away. Cloud just knelt there for a while before nodding slowly as he stood up and pulled his collar back up over his nose. The two of them stood there in silence for a while; Kira was still blushing with embarrassment and Cloud still seemed emotionless. Kira suddenly decided to speak up.  
"So, no 'thank you,' then? That wasn't exactly an easy thing for me to do!" she growled, folding her arms.

Cloud sniggered a little before walking towards the door. He put his gloved hand on the handle and looked back at Kira over his shoulder.  
"Thanks for the help. So long," he muttered with a smirk as he pulled open the door and left.

Kira was infuriated and snarled at the open door. She shook her head and stamped her foot angrily.  
"How could he just walk away like nothing even happened!? What's Tifa to him, anyway," Kira wondered out loud.

She looked up at the door as she was about to leave and noticed that there was a piece of paper taped to it. She ran to the door and pulled it off to read it.

_Mortimer,_

_There's some jewellery in the back that I was supposed to take to the Gullwings, but I've had to leave and I won't be able to deliver them myself. Please can you deliver them for me? Also, I'll need you to take over the shop for a while. I don't know how long I'll be gone. It's up to you, lil' buddy!_

_-Tifa _

Kira folded up the note and put it in her pocket. "I'll go take this to Morty…"

...

Kira saw the moogle floating across the First District court and she ran to catch up to him.

"Morty! Hey!" she called out.

Morty stopped and turned around in mid-air as he smiled a greeting "It's good to see you again, kupo!"

Kira grinned and handed to note over to him. "I think Tifa meant for you to find this," she said.

Morty took the note and his squinty eyes scanned over it quickly. "Oh, so she wants me to take over? I can do that easy peas-y! But, do ya think you could do me a favour and take those accessories to the Gullwings for me?" he asked.

Kira nodded, "Sure can, I've got time to kill!"

...

Kira knocked on the door in hotel that had a blue fish pattern on it. She heard Rikku's high pitched voice from inside the room as the door was pulled open by the pony-tailed sprite. She squealed with excitement when she saw Kira and pulled her into the hotel room. "I didn't think you would ever be coming back!" she threw her arms around Kira and hugged her tightly.

Kira started laughing as she was tackled to the floor. Yuna and Paine looked flew up to them and smiled.

"Well, well, well, she returns," Paine sneered half-heartedly.

"Kira, it's good to see you!" Yuna giggled as she helped Kira up.

"Good to see you too! I've got some things for you," Kira showed them the bag which Rikku hastily snatched up.

Yuna and Rikku squealed as they examined the accessories in the bag and Paine nodded a thank you to Kira.  
"You brought our treasure. You're about to get pretty popular around here," Paine laughed.

"You really like treasure don't you…" Kira said.

"Like?! That doesn't even _begin _to cover our feelings towards treasure!" Rikku gasped.

Yuna nodded, "We _love _treasure," she gushed.

Kira folded her arms as she thought. "So…you'd probably like it if I found you a whole lot of accessories and stuff?" she asked.

The Gullwings all gasped in surprise at the same time.

"You'd actually do that for us?!" Rikku cried.

Kira laughed and nodded, "Sure, I'll get you heaps of treasure!"

"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Paine questioned suspiciously.

Kira shrugged, "Dunno. But if I do find some, I'll give it to you, kay?" she promised.

"You're amazing, Kira!" Yuna clapped her hands together.

Kira chuckled to herself. "Well, I should probably get going now." She gestured to the door with her hand. To her amazement, a black portal materialised in front of it. The four girls cried out in shock as they jumped away from the dark corridor. Kira stood there gaping at the portal.  
"D-did I do that…?"

After a moment, the portal disappeared, but Kira was still staring at the empty space. Rikku flew up and waved her hands in front of Kira's face and called her name to snap her out of it.

"I didn't know you could travel in dark corridors," Paine murmured.

"Well, neither did I! Just…just…what?!" Kira panted.

Yuna had a grave expression and she put her hands together as she explained. "People who can control the power of darkness can use those corridors to travel to practically any place they can think of. People usually wear special coats to protect themselves from the intense darkness they are exposed to. But I never would have picked you to be one of those people," Yuna closed her eyes sadly.

Kira was in shock. "But…I…"  
She suddenly remembered what Tsuki had told her about controlling the darkness. _She says there's darkness in my heart that I can use to make myself and my Keyblade stronger_, she recollected her exact words.

"Maybe I have darkness in my heart too…" she muttered to herself.

"Huh? What are you talking about? What is this all about?" Rikku looked nervous.

"I'm so confused…" Kira sighed, rubbing her forehead.

Paine folded her arms, "Maybe you should go and ask the king about it. Whatever's happening to you, I'm sure he'll be able to help," she told her with a small smile.

"Guess I'll take one of those corridor things," Kira decided.

She gazed at the Gullwings for a long time, feeling almost like she was never going to see them again. Yuna noticed Kira's face fall and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine," she said gently.

"Y-yeah. Of course I'll be fine. I'm strong now and I'll be able to fight off any darkness. Even my own if I have to!" Kira felt extremely determined.

"You better be, otherwise you won't be able to get us that treasure," Paine said half-jokingly.

Everyone laughed at that remark.

"Don't worry, I promise I'll get you that treasure," Kira winked.

Rikku looked like she was about to cry, "Aw, come here, you little cutie!" The Gullwings all hugged Kira tightly. When they let go, Kira looked towards the door and spread her fingers out towards it. _Take me to King Mickey_, she whispered in her mind and a corridor of darkness appeared before her. She turned around to get one last look at her friends.

"You've helped me out a lot. Thank you so much Yuna…Rikku…Paine."

The Gullwings jumped into an attack formation as they grinned at Kira. Paine folded her arms, Rikku put one hand on her hip and had the other rested on her chin, and Yuna acted like she was aiming a gun.

"Well, that's just what we do!" Yuna cried. "Because we're…Y!"  
"R!"  
"P!"

"Teenyboppers of Friendly Neighbourhood!" they all cheered.

**_~Hollow Bastion~_**

The Corridor of Darkness took Kira to a strange place that was made up of blue rock and clear water. Chunks of floating rock made up a stairway to a large platform that was higher up and Kira hoped that she would find King Mickey if she climbed them. The first blue floating step was not too high for her to jump on to and so she cleared it with one good leap. There were two more at the same level which she was able to jump to without much effort. The next one was moving up and down rhythmically and so she carefully timed her jump and landed hard on her feet with one hand splayed on the smooth surface for balance. Kira stood up and took a moment to let the strange new surroundings seep in. The sky was a light and chalky peach colour with thin grey clouds staining it in a few places. The air around her felt dark. Strangely dark. And yet there was a hint of warmth buried somewhere beneath it. Kira wondered what kind of strange people lived in such an unnerving place.

She pushed herself to climb the remaining rocks and eventually made it to the platform that was surrounded by grey pillars and the surface was made up of grey stone bricks. It was then that she noticed Mickey standing on the other end of the platform with his back turned to her. His were ears drooped sadly and his head was bowed.

As he didn't seem to notice Kira was there, she started to walk towards him slowly. "Hey…Mickey? Are you alright?"

She was about half way across the platform when the king spoke up.

"You have to tell me the truth," he said gravely in a low voice.

Kira stopped immediately.  
"O-okay…" she said after a while.

Mickey turned around and Kira saw that he had a shockingly depressed expression; like he was so tired that he had just given up completely.  
"Did you know? All this time?" he murmured the question.

"Did I know…what?" Kira's chest felt heavy with worry.

Mickey looked down at the ground sadly.  
"Your dark powers. Your dark Keyblade. Your dark heart. Were you keeping it from me all this time?"

Kira began to understand what the little king was talking about. Somehow he must have found out about her dark powers _before _she even got a chance to find out for herself. The question was…how?  
"Mickey, of course I would never keep a secret like that from you. But you have to believe me, I only found out about it not long after you left! I'm so confused. Can you…help me understand?" she choked on her own words, suddenly realising a horrible truth.

"I…don't even know what I am anymore."

Mickey looked up at her with sympathy in his eyes. It looked as though he was really pushing himself to smile and after a few seconds he sighed and began to walk towards Kira.  
"I should never have doubted you. I'm so sorry, Kira. I just don't know how to process all this. I've made a terrible mistake," he said.

Kira shook her head slowly, "Just tell me everything that you know, now. Help me understand."

Mickey nodded and gestured for Kira to sit down. She judged the distance from her knees to the ground before she knelt in front of Mickey and placed her hands on her lap. Mickey was making perfect eye contact with her and it made her feel a little uncomfortable as not a moment ago he was interrogating her as if she had done something horrible. She struggled to return his gaze, but her eyes were awkwardly darting to look at the ground every so often and she hoped that Mickey didn't think that she was being rude.

"Ansem the…I mean, DiZ, told me a story when he summoned me. It's a story about you, about your friends, about your world and about the real bearer of the Keyblade of the Realm of Light," Mickey began.

Kira listened intently as Mickey began to tell the story, slightly anxious at what she was about to learn. Mickey breathed a short sigh before starting at the very beginning.

"Your world, the Destiny Islands, was not created like other worlds. It is in fact split up into _two _worlds. It exists just on the border between light and darkness and so one half of it is part of the light side and the other is on the dark side. Kira…you live on the side that is in darkness."

Kira was half expecting him to say that, but it still shocked her. Her lips parted slightly as she tried to reply, but her brain was still turning this new information around and it didn't have time to put words into her mouth. She just let Mickey continue.

"All the people on your side of the islands have more darkness in their hearts than the average person, just as the people on the light side have more light. Both are living in a world inside a world and have no idea that the other exists. The only way to get from one side to the other is to either sail out into the sea until you get there, or unlock the door to the heart of the world and keep walkin' through it till you end up on the other side. But if anyone found that out, and crossed over to the opposite side, it would cause complete chaos. Even just one dark heart in a world filled with light would tip the scale and do a lot of damage to it and to the people living in it.  
"Now, when I left my castle to found out what was happening to the worlds, I sent out Donald and Goofy to go and find the Keyblade bearer. It hadn't occurred to me that there was more than one wielder out there at the time and so when I found you, I just figured that I'd beaten them to it and I might as well take you with me. But I had been wrong because Donald and Goofy had done exactly as I'd asked. They found the wielder of a Keyblade from the Realm of Light and stuck with him just like I'd told them to. In fact, they're out there right now fighting Heartless and sealing the Keyholes."

Kira gasped, "But that's what _we _were doing! Does that mean that every time I locked one, this other Keyblade bearer came and opened it up again?"

Mickey looked sad again and shook his head, "No. When you thought you were sealing a Keyhole, you were only just touching it with the darkness you have in your blade. Only a Keyblade of Light can lock or unlock a Keyhole in the Light Realm. You may have sealed it up for a short while, but I'm sure that not long after you did, it just opened itself up again."

"So that means…this whole journey we've been on…"

"Was completely pointless. We've achieved nothing and wasted so much time," Mickey's voice was low and solemn.

Kira was broken. She felt like she had let everyone in the whole world down and she was completely powerless to fix it. If it hadn't been for the other Keyblade bearer, the worlds she was supposed to protect could have fallen into darkness and she wouldn't have been able to save them in time. She felt like bursting into tears, but she stayed strong for Mickey.  
"Can you tell me about the light side of my world?" she asked with a shaky voice.

Mickey, who was still standing up, sat down in front of Kira and smiled a little.  
"The light side of the world is very much like the dark side, or so DiZ has told me. It has the same beach and the same little island and the same town. The people who live there are no different to your people, as well. In fact, there's something that ties the hearts of the light hearts to the dark hearts. For every person on the light side, there is one heart on the dark side that they are connected to. Your person is the Keyblade wielder of light, Sora. DiZ called him your Reverse because even though you are connected at heart, you are complete opposites. Your friend Tsuki's Reverse is a boy named Riku and Roka's is a girl named Kairi."

Kira's mouth was open in amazement, "There's a person out there…that's connected to my heart?" It didn't make any more sense even though she'd said it out loud.

"Yup, but that's not all. Because of your ties to Sora, anything that happens to his heart is going to happen to yours. That means that if he _loses _his heart, you'll…disappear," Mickey murmured with a grave expression on his little mouse face.

"He better not lose his heart then," Kira attempted to smile.

Mickey let out an empty laugh as he started blankly at a space on the ground. The two of them sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to do next before Mickey finally spoke up in a quiet voice.  
"You know what this means, right? We'll have to…part ways now."

Kira's eyes grew wide immediately and she gasped, "Wait, no! You're going to leave me?"

Mickey tried to smile, "I've still got a mission to complete. It's not that I _want _to leave you…it's just that it will be a lot easier on you and on the worlds if you go back home now."

Tears were forming in the corners of Kira's eyes and she swallowed a lump in her throat. "But, what am I supposed to do now? I don't know if I've got a home to go back to and I don't even know where my friends are!"

Mickey turned and pointed to a castle that wasn't too far from where they were now.  
"Tsuki and Roka should be in there. And as for your home, if Sora succeeds his mission, all the worlds that were lost to darkness will return and you can go home again. Before that, though, it might be a good idea to go and find DiZ so that he can give you a black coat. It's a special coat that will help keep you safe when you're travelling through dark corridors," he smiled.

Kira nodded as if she understood, but most of what he said sounded like a high pitched humming sound in her brain that was clogged with empty thought. She lowered her head as she prepared to say her goodbyes.  
"Mickey, I…"

"Huh?" Mickey looked up her waiting as her voice trailed off.

Kira shook her head a little and started again.  
"Mickey, I know that we've messed up. And I know that you're probably upset and mad at me that I wasted your time. But…to me, this journey wasn't pointless at all. Even if we haven't even really been together that long, I've learned so much from you and I feel stronger and smarter and braver than I've ever felt before. You're amazing, Mickey, and an amazing teacher. I'm going to do my best to make you proud of me even if we're apart," Kira swallowed hard and wiped a single tear from the corner of her eye.

Mickey's eyes were glassy as well and he took Kira's hand in his, looking up at her with genuine happiness in his expression.

"I _am _proud of you, Kira. You've come so far and I know that you're going to go even further. I'm proud to call you my friend and I'm proud to call you my apprentice," he said in a joyful but shaky voice.

Without thinking, Kira pushed herself up a little from her kneeling position and hugged Mickey tightly. He laughed quietly and hugged her back just as tight before letting go and taking a step back. Kira stood up and smiled at Mickey as he started to walk to the edge of the platform.

"Welp, so long, Kira!" the little king beamed, obviously trying to make their goodbye a happy one.

Kira sniffed, "So long, Mickey," she said warmly.

Mickey jumped down quickly from rock to rock until he got to the Save Point at the bottom. Stepping into it, he turned and waved at Kira. Kira waved back as the he disappeared in a beam of bright green light. Kira smiled to herself and sat down on the edge of the platform. She sighed loudly as she stooped her shoulders, letting her arms flop over the side. She suddenly felt extremely depressed. _He's gone. The little king who taught me that I could do anything if I put my heart into it and was there beside me through a journey I never could have made on my own…is gone._

Tsuki and Roka would have to wait a little longer. Kira needed some time alone.

...

Roka was sitting on the edge of the fountain in the main hall reading a fictional fantasy novel when he heard the door up the stairs open; the one with the strange heart-shaped emblem on it. He closed the book and turned his head over his shoulder to see who was coming, even though whoever was there was too high up for him to see from his position. Roka heard a few slow footsteps before the person stopped and let out a sigh. "How do I know I can trust you? You can't just appear out of nowhere expecting me to just let you give me some dark powers," it was Riku's voice.

_Dark powers? Who's he talking to…_? Roka wondered inquisitively. Another voice; a deeper and scary sounding voice belonging to a man he didn't recognise.

"I can see into your heart. I can see everything that you desire."

"Alright then, tell me. What do I want?" Riku scoffed with a smile in his voice.

"Power. Dark power. Power that will enable you to overcome your friend in physical strength and the power to keep the one you love away from him," the voice replied slowly.

Riku was silent for a moment before he sighed and took a few steps towards the staircase on the left side of the room.  
"That's exactly what I want," he said in a low voice, stopping at the highest step.

"I can grant you that power and you can take back what is rightfully yours," the man said.

Roka began to get panicky. It sounded like Riku and this person were planning something suspicious and the last thing he wanted was to get tangled up in it. He couldn't risk being seen, so taking his book with him, Roka quietly walked to the stairwell opposite the one Riku was standing at and began to walk up the stairs. His back was hunched low as if he was trying to make himself as small as possible.

"What will I have to give you in exchange?" Riku asked the man.

Roka really started to freak out when he saw Riku begin to walk down the small stairway. Even though he was a reasonable distance away from him, he would be seen instantly if Riku happened to turn his head in Roka's direction. Without thinking, he dropped his knees to one of the stairs and pressed his stomach low, keeping his head down and his arms stretched out. With his whole body lying flat, he tried to pull himself up to the top from the half-way point he had already reached.

"We can discuss that in time. For now, all I am concerned about is giving you what you want. I was once a boy like you…trapped in a prison and wishing that I could see what lay beyond the horizon. I know how badly you want this power," the man said in a dark voice.

Roka was having an incredibly hard time using the grab-and-pull method of making his way up the stairs and so he decided to wait until Riku had reached the bottom and was facing the other way before trying a much easier technique.

"As much as I don't want to believe you, you're right," Riku said as he took his foot off the bottom step.

As Riku was walking to the centre of the room, Roka got up on his hands and knees and began to crawl the rest of the way. When he got to the top of the staircase, he stood up and rushed to hide behind the huge sculpture of the head of some kind of beast that was placed on the wall above the fountain. It was just tall enough for him to crouch behind without looking conspicuous; the perfect place for him to quietly observe their conversation. Peeking over the top of it, he saw that the man talking to Riku was a figure that was not much taller than the silver-haired boy and was dressed in a brown cloak. Even if the man didn't have his back turned, Roka would not have been able to see his face because every part of his body was shrouded.

"But, it seems that you have not thought about precisely how powerful you could be," he said, still standing behind Riku.

"I'm listening," Roka could tell that Riku was smirking.

"It does not just stop with you becoming greater than your friend. You could be powerful enough to make people bow at your feet. You would be _unstoppable_."

_Don't listen to him, Riku. This guy is trouble, I know it! _Roka screamed in his head.

"You could start with that girl. Her skills are developing quickly and she would put up a good fight were you to face her in battle," the man said in a low whisper.

"You mean Tsuki?" Riku laughed. "That girl couldn't swing a Keyblade to save her life."

"Don't be too sure of that. She is developing her own dark powers possibly as strong as the ones you could possess. You should eliminate her first."

"Oh no…Tsuki!" Roka whispered under his breath.

With his back stooped low, he ran to the library door and opened it as soundlessly as possible. Squeezing through it, he left it open a little so that it didn't make too much of a noise when he clicked it shut.  
Almost by coincidence he ran into Tsuki as soon as he reached the top of the stairs. Tsuki was standing by the yellow table and she greeted him with a bright smile as soon as he approached.

"Roka, there you are! You'll never believe it!" Tsuki took Roka's hands and began to jump up and down enthusiastically.  
"I found Kira!"

"You found Kira!?" Roka gasped excitedly, "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She's fine! She's on an amazing adventure with this little mouse king trying to save the worlds from the Heartless! Can you believe it? Little Kira's all grown up," Tsuki laughed dreamily.

"Wow, that's amazing….! Wait, what am I saying…Tsuki, you're in danger! We need to get help, now!" Roka tore his hands away from Tsuki.

"In danger? Why would I be in danger?" Tsuki laughed.

"It's Riku. I over-heard him and this strange guy talking about _destroying _you!"

"Why would he do that? I mean, it's not like he'd have anything against me…"

"Where's Ikari? She could help us."

"I don't know, with Maleficent maybe?" Tsuki was taking him seriously, now.

"We need to find her!" Roka said frantically, heading for the closest door to the Lift Stop.

Tsuki took a few steps after him and spun him around by his shoulders. "No, I need to stop him. I'll go and fight him and put an end to whatever they're planning," Tsuki said firmly.

"You can't, you don't know what you're up against!" Roka insisted.

Tsuki pulled him into a quick but warm hug and then took him by the arm and sat him down on one of the chairs at the table.  
"You have to stay here, no matter what you might hear coming from that room. You might think I'm in trouble and you need to help me, but you've got to stay here so you don't get hurt. Promise?" Tsuki was really getting worked up.

Roka nodded that he understood, but it wasn't like his shaking body would let him move, anyway.

"I'll be back! Don't worry, I'll sort this out!" she was shouting at Roka without looking back as she navigated her way through the book shelves.

Roka pushed the chair back and stood up, "Wait! Just wait a minute, Tsu!"

As he heard the door scrape shut he, placed his hands on the table to steady himself and stared blankly at an empty space as he slowly seated himself back down on the chair.

"Come back, Tsuki…" he whispered under his breath.


	8. I Was Too Late

Running to the balcony, Tsuki pushed herself up onto it and then leaped off, landing hard on her feet. Looking up, she saw the biggest, darkest creature she had ever seen. Floating above the ground, it turned around with its wide mouth grinning. It was then that it revealed that it was standing behind a very dazed looking Riku. He didn't look up at Tsuki; he looked so lifeless. Standing next to him was the figure that Roka had seen talking with him just before.

"Riku! What have you done to him!?" Tsuki gasped, switching her gaze from Riku to the figure.

The hood of the man's cloak moved left and right slightly as he shook his head.  
"I have done nothing to this boy. This was all his decision. All I am doing is helping to release the power he already holds inside his heart," he said in a deep and droning voice.

"I don't believe you! He's just not the sort of person who would…!" Tsuki sentence was interrupted by Riku.

"How do you know what kind of person I am? You know nothing about me!" Riku finally spoke as he lifted his head and Tsuki could see the rage in his eyes.

Surprised, Tsuki shuffled back a step. She shook her head and looked away, "What are you going to do..?" Tsuki asked nervously.

"The darkness can be my ally if I know how to use it. When has the light ever done anything good for me? It's useless. So I'm accepting the darkness… and I'll stop anyone who gets in my way," Riku said confidently.

"I can't let you do that," Tsuki said as she glared at Riku and the man he was with.  
She wasn't sure which one she was angrier with; she only knew that she was going to have to fight no matter what events were to take place. She wasn't sure if she was ready, but training with Ikari had definitely improved her strength and skill. _Where is she, anyway? I could really use her help… _Tsuki quickly focused her attention back to Riku who hardly looked shaken by her remark. He turned to the man in the brown cloak.

"Are you ready?" the man said in his brooding deep voice.

Riku glanced at Tsuki and saw her nervous expression as she shook her head slowly. He looked back at the man and nodded.

"Yes."

Immediately after Riku had made the agreement, the horrifying monster that was floating behind him slammed its hands down onto Riku's shoulders. Riku threw his head back and screamed as currents of darkness appeared around him. His yellow shirt and blue pants morphed into a blue and red full-body suit and a sharp grey Keyblade with a red handle appeared in his hand.

The cloaked man and the monster faded away and Riku leaped into the air as he charged at Tsuki. She raised her Keyblade to block his attack, but his Keyblade connected with hers and he sent Tsuki flying into the wall behind them, earning a sharp yelp from her. Riku pushed his Keyblade into Tsuki's neck and she looked up into his eyes as she grabbed the blade and tried to push it away.

"Your light is powerless…there is no escaping your fate," Riku said, smiling malevolently.

As she was quickly trying to come up with a plan, Tsuki suddenly realised that Riku was right. His darkness could snuff out her light in a second if he caught her off guard. Tsuki remembered Ikari telling her that the darkness she had inside of her was more powerful than the darkness of an ordinary person; something about it was special. She had to fight fire with fire. _If I can summon the darkness in my heart, then maybe I'll have a better chance at beating him…it could be risky but it's worth a shot._

Tsuki's grip tightened on Riku's Keyblade as she closed her eyes. She delved deep into the depths of her dark heart and called upon every ounce of power she had. Already she was beginning to feel a slight burning sensation all over her and although the feeling was frightening, she willingly accepted it. With her eyes still closed and her hand still on Riku's Keyblade, she spoke.  
"I've played nice up until now…but…"  
With that, Tsuki threw her hands out and pushed Riku back a few steps, throwing a rough growl from her lips. She broke free from his hold and leaped high over his head and away from the wall. She flipped almost in slow motion in the air and her own clothes transformed into a short, torn, black dress. Her long ginger hair looked less well-kept. Chains appeared around her neck and on each wrist.

Tsuki landed hard on the ground and she threw her Keyblade into the air where it disappeared immediately. It was replaced with two large spheres of deep purple darkness which fell into each of her hands and she was able to hold them.

Turning around quickly, she threw both of the spheres at Riku who couldn't think fast enough to block them. He remained on his feet, but slid backwards about a metre. He ran towards Tsuki with his Keyblade raised and struck her as hard as he could. Tsuki tried to step backwards, but Riku grabbed the front of her dress and held her in place while he brought his blade down upon her again. Her knees gave way and she hung there halfway to the ground as Riku pulled her up by her neck. Tsuki put as much strength as she could into a quick blow to his side with a dark sphere and he dropped her as he went flying sideways. Falling to the hard floor, she used one hand to push herself up from the ground as she raised the other to shoot a stream of darkness at Riku. But he only dodged it and followed with a long combo of spinning attacks. Tsuki could only block the first few hits but Riku's strength increased with each strike. Eventually she was sent flying backwards all the way to the front door. As soon as her back hit it, she felt a sharp pain all over and she fell to her knees once again with a yelp. She coughed a few times and stood up. Riku laughed mockingly.

"No matter how many times you get up you're always going to end up back in the same place," he said, gesturing to the wall.

Tsuki was gasping for breath now and she stood there hunched over. _It can't be over…I won't let it end now. There's still a little bit of strength left in me…_

Tsuki straightened her back and took a few steps away from the wall. She raised her arms high above her head and the dark spheres in her hands began to expand. Her whole body became encircled in the deep purple darkness and she began to lose control of her own thoughts. Nothing made sense anymore and all Tsuki could feel was some sort of new found power that flowed violently through her body. It was time to let it all go.

Tsuki rose into the air and threw her arms out with a vicious scream, sending at least ten spheres out towards Riku. They formed a large circle around him and hovered in mid-air. Riku shuffled around slowly and held onto his Keyblade tightly, trying to ready himself for whatever Tsuki was about to do. With one swift movement of her arms, she commanded the spheres to close in on Riku at lightning speed. One at a time, they crashed into Riku who tried desperately to defend himself with his blade. It took getting hit with three of the dark spheres for him to realise that he was able to absorb the darkness into his Keyblade.

Before Tsuki knew what was happening, Riku's blade was turning a dull black colour. With rage in his eyes, he lifted the blade over his head then thrust it forward, sending all of the darkness he had absorbed back at Tsuki. She stood there motionless, eyes widening, mouth falling open, until finally the darkness struck her body and threw her backwards into the door. She rebounded and crashed to the floor and then bounced a little as she rolled to the centre of the room.

Riku's Keyblade disappeared as he let it slip from his hands as he began to stagger to the left staircase. Tsuki had lost most of her vision and only saw his blurred figure slide away from her. She felt a sickening feeling of regret seep into her dark heart as he finally disappeared up the stairs. The position she was in was very uncomfortable, but she was in too much pain to move. She stretched her arm out towards the stairs as far as she could and looked up with teary eyes.

"Riku…please come back…" she uttered as she knew she was giving up.

But she had to shake all the bad thoughts away; she had to keep going. Roka was waiting for her and Kira would burst through the door any second now to come save her. She let her outstretched hand drop to the ground as she breathed an exhausted sigh.

"Kira will come and rescue me…I know she will…" She found herself saying out loud.

Tsuki closed her eyes and smiled weakly. She was still panting heavily but she was able to relax on the hard stone floor as she lay there waiting. Everything was over; she had done the best she could there was nothing left to worry about

"_The rain outside/ fills your heart tonight./ Sky is dark/ like your eyes now./ As you break down/ like no one can see/ I'll comfort you,_" she sang in a soft whisper, tapping a light beat on the floor.

"_There's no one that can hurt you now/ you can hold my hand/ Silently/ telling you that I love you,_" Tsuki's whisper was becoming croaky as she felt tears begin to form. She opened her eyes briefly to wipe them away.

The song always made her feel better, but now as she sang it, she had never felt such sadness in her heart. She had never felt more alone and helpless in the world.

"_And I always will./ You're my angel/ and I'll always be…"_

The door to the entrance scraped the floor loudly as it was opened. Tsuki lifted her head up hoping to see either Riku or Kira run in, but instead she saw Ikari turning to close the door behind her. Her high-heeled boots clicked on the stone floor as she approached the defeated Tsuki.

"I…Ikari," Tsuki smiled, glad to see that someone; anyone; had come to help her.

Ikari stopped in front of Tsuki and bent down to look at her.  
"Having some boy trouble? Pretty sad that Riku would turn on you like that," Ikari laughed quietly.

Tsuki forced a small laugh as well, but was a little confused as to why there wasn't any sympathy in Ikari's remark.  
"Can you please help me up..?" Tsuki held out hand.

Then Tsuki saw Ikari's expression: a sinister, vicious, sadistic smile was spread across her face. Something more frightening than Tsuki had ever seen before in her life. The young woman gingerly put two fingers on her temple and spread the fingers on her other hand out towards Tsuki. As Ikari raised her hand up, a dim blue light surrounded Tsuki and she slowly lifted up off the ground. Breathing heavily as she suddenly realised the horrible situation she was in, Tsuki found herself crying out, "Ikari, what are you doing?!" even though she knew it sounded stupid.

"Oh, Tsuki," Ikari pouted insincerely. "Naïve little Tsuki. It's gonna be so lonely now we're parting ways, isn't it."

Tsuki was struggling to free herself from the invisible force as she had now been raised just less than a metre off the ground.

"Ah, but it must be done. Nothing personal, of course, but a job is a job…and I just _love _my job!"

With a quick movement of her free hand, Ikari threw out another invisible force and Tsuki felt as if her cheek had been cut. But there wasn't any blood; not even a mark was left behind. There was only a sharp pain that lingered there. Tsuki gasped and instinctively tried to clutch her face to ease the pain, but she was frozen in place with her arms out at her side. Ikari laughed at her efforts and ran her finger over Tsuki's other cheek leaving the same strange feeling of pain. Tsuki whimpered and tightly closed her eyes. Her head was the only thing she could move and although it did her no good, she shook it vigorously.  
"Please let me go! Just tell me what you want from me and I'll do it! I promise!" she cried.

Ikari laughed at her efforts and with another swipe of her hand, Ikari made another "cut" into Tsuki's arm and earned another shriek from her. She was truly helpless and couldn't do anything to prevent what was going to happen to her. She began to cry, her warm tears flowing down her already burning cheeks. "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

"You can apologise all you want, but your friends will never ever hear you!" Ikari slashed Tsuki's leg.

Wincing, Tsuki looked Ikari straight into her eyes which were filled completely with an icy light blue colour. She took a deep breath and bit her lip, feeling the life draining from her body.  
"I…wasn't talking to my friends. I'm talking to _you, _Ikari!" she cried.

Ikari nearly dropped Tsuki and her eyes returned to normal for a second. But she stayed focused and lifted her up before she hit the floor.  
"What are you talking about..?" Ikari said, almost cautiously.

"I feel sorry for you…I really do. To bring pain to others…you have to be hurting. I can't imagine the pain you're feeling inside. I hope someday you can be happy…"

"_SHUT UP!_" Ikari screamed.

Tsuki felt pain shoot across her stomach and she groaned loudly.

"You don't get to take pity on me! I'm fine! You should be feeling sorry for _yourself!_" Ikari made another cut near Tsuki's shoulder.

This time she didn't even flinch; Tsuki stayed as strong as she could.  
"I've lived a good life…a very good life," her voice was very raspy and she had to take deep breaths every few words.  
"I've been surrounded by my friends…people who…love me. People who will…come and save me when I need them most. I can count on them to be there…always…and forever." Tsuki's tears of pain turned into tears of joy as she began to accept what was going to happen to her.

Enraged, Ikari shot both of her hands out towards Tsuki, her blue eyes looking more evil than ever. "Then where are they?! Where are the friends that say they will be with you forever?! _Nowhere! _They _never _come! You wait an eternity and they _never come!_" Ikari sounded like she was crying, but no tears came out of her cobalt eyes.

With both of her hands, she drained Tsuki's life as fast as she could. But Tsuki had caught her off guard and it made it difficult to concentrate.

"No! I…I can't believe anything…you say! You've fed me lies…since the first moment we met! So I can't believe…anything you say. She will come for me!" Tsuki was beginning to feel sick; almost too weak to speak anymore.

But Ikari needed to hear what she had to say.

"I feel…sorry for you! You will…never have friends. You will never experience love…or happiness. But I have…and because of that reason alone…I know I've lived a very good life."

"Stop talking!" Ikari pushed as much power out as she could.

"And I feel sorry for you…because you have…no friends…"

"Stop it! _Just stop_!"

"But I do…I do have friends…and she…she _will_ come for me…Kira will come for me! My best friend…will come for me!"

"_I SAID SHUT UP_!"

With the last of her strength, Ikari struck the poor girl with everything she had. As Tsuki finally reached her ultimate level of pain tolerance, she let out a huge scream of pain and sadness; a scream of defeat.

Roka, who was still sitting at the table in the library heard the scream and quickly stood up, turning his head to the door. The scream even reached Kira who was still by the water outside of the castle.  
"Tsuki!" she cried as she immediately recognised who the scream belonged to.

Kira and Roka both ran from where they were to come to Tsuki's rescue. Roka sprinted to the door and pushed it open with both hands. He ran across the balcony and looked over the bars to see Tsuki struggling to escape Ikari's hold.  
"Tsuki! _Tsuki!_" Roka ran to the flight of stairs and tried to leap down them as fast as he could. But he tripped as he reached halfway and fell at the very foot of the steps, crying out as he felt the wind being knocked out of him.

As Tsuki breathed heavily, still sustained in mid-air by Ikari's powers, she glanced towards Roka and then looked back at Ikari.  
"You see, Ikari..? I _do_ have friends…" Tsuki whispered.

Ikari shrieked with anger as she threw Tsuki across the hall. She hit the wall hard and fell into in the fountain with a dull splash. Roka gasped and struggled to raise his head to look at an exhausted Ikari as she opened a Dark Corridor and disappeared into it. Roka began to crawl across the floor towards Tsuki and it seemed like forever before he finally reached her. He pushed himself up the base of the fountain and placed a hand on Tsuki's arm.  
Her eyes opened slightly and she smiled. "I thought…I told you to stay put," she only just found the strength to laugh.

Roka sat up and dragged Tsuki out of the water. He rested her back over his legs and cradled her head in his hands.

"I could have helped you if you had let me…"

"No, Roka…there was nothing you could have done," Tsuki choked on her words a little. "But if it's not too much to ask…I need you to do…something for me…"

Roka wasn't even trying to act tough and tears were streaming down his face.  
"I'll do anything, I promise," he nodded his head.

Tsuki put a hand on her chest. "There is light in my heart…a tiny light in my dark heart. When it is released from my body…I want you to give it to…Kira. I need you to give my light to Kira…and it will make her stronger. She can keep it…in here…" Tsuki's hand slipped into the pocket of her black dress and she pulled out a stuffed doll.

It was the doll that looked exactly like her. As she held the tiny Tsuki to her chest, her bright green eyes started to slide shut.

Roka shook his friend and his tears were dripping onto her already wet clothes. "No, you've got to open your eyes! You're strong! You can fight! You can always fight! It shouldn't be any different…!"

"You've never given up on me…and I'm so thankful for that. But this time…it's all over for me. I just don't have the kind of strength that you do, Roka. That's why…you're going to be okay…because you have a stronger heart than any of us. Maybe you don't have a Keyblade…or a special power. But you're just you…that's all you'll ever need to be. I'm very happy…that you came to build the swing with us that day…you remember?" Tsuki smiled with her eyes still closed.

"Of course I remember," Roka smiled back and wiped the tears from both of his cheeks.  
"I'll never forget."

"And when you see Kira….please tell her….that I could have never asked for a better friend than her." Tsuki's voice had become very quiet.  
Her hand finally dropped from her chest and onto the ground. In a stream of light mixed with darkness, her heart slowly flew out of her body. Tsuki's eyes closed and the colour faded from her face, but her beautiful smile remained; more radiant than it had ever looked before.

Then there was a loud slam as Kira kicked the door to the castle entrance open. Her angry expression turned into one of shock and she sprinted to her friends.  
"Roka, is she okay?!" Kira cried.

Tsuki's heart that was floating in the air was shrouded by a dark cloud, but then then a tiny sparkle of light shone through. Kira dropped to her knees and clutched Tsuki's still hand that was still holding her doll. Kira and Roka both stared at the heart that disappeared into the darkness as the tiny bit of light flew back down again. As the doll in Tsuki's hands absorbed the tiny beam, her body turned into even bigger spheres of light and vanished. The doll fell to the ground and Roka picked it up, staring at it for a while.

Roka turned to Kira was now in total shock; in a complete state of confusion as to what had just happened. He held out Tsuki's doll.  
"She wanted you to have this…" he said in a croaky whisper as he handed the doll to his friend.

Kira expression was blank as she accepted the doll, holding it to her own chest. The darkness in her heart resisted it at first, but soon Kira felt warm inside and she knew that Tsuki's light was protecting her.

Kira choked on her tears and dropped the doll.

"Why…...No...…" Kira's breaths became harder and her expression turned into one of heartbreak.

"_Tsuki!_" she suddenly slammed both of her gloved fists onto the ground.

She struck the ground over and over again, ignoring the pain she felt with each hit.

"_Tsuki!_ _Tsuki!_ _Come back!_ _Please Tsuki! Don't go!_" she screamed into the floor.

Roka put his arms around her waist and tried to stop her, but only got pulled up and down each time she struck the ground.

"_Tsuki! Please come back! Please! Please!_" Kira then let out a loud cry of sorrow.

She didn't understand what had happened to her friend; why she was taken away from her. She couldn't think of a reason as to why Tsuki deserved this. She wanted desperately to find a way to change it. To bring Tsuki back.  
Kira screamed, tears falling from her chin and onto the floor.

She was starting to hyperventilate and Roka tried to rock Kira from side to side to calm her down.  
"Kira! Kira, it's okay!" his voice broke with each word. Seeing Kira's own hurt made him tear up again.

"_I'm sorry, Tsuki! I'm sorry I was too late! It's my fault! I didn't make it in time!_" Kira yelled between sobs. Her voice was harsh and rasping.

Roka grabbed her arms and pulled her around to look at him. Her put his hands firmly on her shoulders and shook her slightly. "Kira, listen to me! Tsuki wouldn't want you to be sad like this," Roka tried to be firm with her and fight back his own tears at the same time.

Kira was still sobbing but she stopped screaming and looked up at Roka with sad eyes. He loosened his grip on her shoulders and put his arms around her, pulling her head close into his chest. Kira put her arms around his waist and cried into his shirt, burying her face into it.

"It's okay…everything's going to be okay," Roka whispered, finding Kira's embrace as comforting as Kira found his.

He felt Kira shake each time she sobbed, but she was beginning calm down a little.  
"You know…you know, Tsuki asked me to tell you something for her," Roka said, stroking her hair softly.

Kira lifted her head out of Roka's shirt and gazed up at him.  
"Really…what?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

Roka smiled warmly and nodded. "Yeah. She said…she said to tell you that you were the best friend she's ever had."

Kira looked away as she thought; a surprised expression on her face. Then she sadly looked down at the floor.  
"I'm a horrible friend, though. I could have saved her but I was outside the whole time feeling sorry for myself…"

"What happened?" Roka asked, sounding concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just had to say goodbye to the King, that's all," Kira said, trying to make it sound better than it actually was.  
"But I could have made it in time!"

Roka put his hand under her chin and lifted her head up. "It's not your fault, Kira. It's that witch's fault…Ikari. I can't believe I ever trusted her."

"Ikari..? What did she do?" Kira gasped.

"Tsuki got into a bad fight with Riku and that wore her down. Then Ikari…finished the job…"

Kira stood up and summoned her Keyblade; her sadness quickly turning into anger.

"Wait, where are you going?" Roka cried, standing up as well.

"They can't do something like this and just walk away! They have to pay for what they've done!" Kira said.

"But you weren't there, Kira. You didn't see her. There's no way you can defeat Ikari, let alone Riku as well!" Roka grabbed her arm.

"I don't want to hear 'It's too dangerous'. If I don't do this, how could I go on living anyway," Kira said quietly.  
Closing her eyes, she made her hand into a fist and placed it on her chest. The other hand was still holding Tsuki's doll.  
"I need to go find a man named DiZ. Maybe he can help. I'm going to avenge Tsuki…and I can't stop you from coming with me."

Roka looked surprised at first, but then smiled a little. Kira summoned a Corridor of Darkness and stepped through it. Roka hesitated for a second before running a hand across his cheek to wipe the remaining tears away and walked through the corridor as well.

**Twilight Town**

DiZ was more than a little surprised to see the Dark Corridor appear behind him and interrupt his studies. It surprised him even more to see Kira, (the subject whom he had recently been studying) step out of it and greet him with an unfriendly expression. Roka shuffled out of it as well and the Corridor of Darkness disappeared.

"What can I do for you?" DiZ asked the two of them, trying to remain composed.

Kira stared at the ground for a while before lifting her head rather suddenly, looking DiZ straight in the eye and maintaining eye contact.  
"Sir…I need to know how to return a heart to a person who has lost one," she said with a little force and demand in her tone.

DiZ had not expected that at all. At the very least, he had expected her to come to him questioning the knowledge about her and her friends that he had obtained. But nevertheless, he was determined to help Kira however he could. Turning on his chair in front of the giant computer he was sitting at, he looked down and placed his hands on his lap.  
"I am afraid I do not know the answer to that," he said honestly is his clear deep voice.

Kira stepped forward and placed a hand on her chest. "Please, I need to know! I-!"

"You did not allow me to finish," DiZ smiled through the bandages on his face.  
"I have an untested theory, but it is not one that would work for just anyone. The heart would have had to be captured by an artificial Kingdom Hearts created by Organization XIII."

"I don't know what you mean. What's Kingdom Hearts? Who's Organization XIII?" Kira sounded a little frustrated.

Roka put a calming hand on her arm and she looked back at him, sighing.

DiZ explained, "Kingdom Hearts is what is known as the heart of all worlds and is said to possess great power. It is seen as a giant heart-shaped moon in the sky. Organization XIII is a group of Nobodies assembled to create their own artificial Kingdom Hearts made from the 'hearts of men.' These are hearts that only a Keyblade can harvest from the Heartless who have come to obtain them. I'm sure you already know what a Heartless is, so allow me to explain what their counterparts, Nobodies, are: when a Heartless is created from the darkness of the being's heart, they leave behind their body and soul. A strong will in the being can cause the leftover parts of their former existence to act on a will of its own. These new beings are called Nobodies. Unlike the Heartless who act only on instinct, a Nobody can think…even, plan. While they lack hearts, they still carry the memory of the heart they once had. But even so, they cannot truly feel. Am I making much sense so far?"

Kira's head was spinning, but she nodded slowly when she was prompted. DiZ nodded back and continued.

"And so my theory is that if the light that was saved from the absent body was sent to the artificial Kingdom Hearts, it could find its incomplete heart amongst the others, join with it and return to its Nobody."

Kira's lips parted slowly as she began to realise and she reached into her pocket and pulled out Tsuki's doll. DiZ saw it and smiled.

"Yes, it was that small and final action of your friend that led me to discover this theory. I had been watching you from a distance at that time. I am deeply sorry for your loss," DiZ now wore a serious expression.

Roka put his hand on Kira's shoulder as the two of them made desperate attempts to supress that memory.

"So…all I'd have to do is go to Organization XIII's world, make this light go into their Kingdom Hearts and Tsuki's heart would come back?" Kira made sure she understood.

"You would first need to find Tsuki's Nobody. She will probably appear in Hollow Bastion sooner or later. Just take her to The World That Never Was, hold her under the moon and release the light into the sky," DiZ said frankly.

Roka looked at Kira, taking his hand off her shoulder and making it into a determined fist. "We can do that, right? It'll be easy."

Kira nodded without making eye contact. "Yes, but I think that we should go after Ikari first. I mean, even if we somehow revive Tsuki, Ikari's just going to come back and try to destroy her again. Why did she even do it in the first place…DiZ, you wouldn't happen to know that, would you?" she looked at the wise man with a hopeful look in her eyes.

DiZ took a moment to think before shaking his head slowly. "I think that's something you will have to ask Ikari. But first, I have something for both of you."  
He reached under his desk and pulled out two black coats.

"Luckily I have a few spares of theses," he handed them to Kira and Roka.

"What are they for?" Kira asked as she took hers, holding it by the sleeves.

"Travelling through a Corridor of Darkness unprotected can be quite dangerous. You'll be safer if you wear these," DiZ explained.

Kira and Roka both nodded and pulled the coats over the clothes they were wearing, zipping them up. They took a moment to look down at their new attire.

"Wait, there's something I just realised," Kira said.  
"You told King Mickey that the hearts of Tsuki, Roka and me are connected to the hearts of three other people. Our 'Reverses'. If Tsuki's lost her heart, does that mean that her Reverse has lost their heart as well?"

"The situation is slightly complicated there. Tsuki's Reverse, Riku, has joined his heart with a very powerful Heartless. The hold this Heartless has on Riku's heart is so strong that he is preventing the heart from being taken," DiZ told her.

Kira was slightly disappointed at hearing this fact. She would have preferred it if Riku had been destroyed. But she erased the frustration from her mind and replied with a small nod. Roka gritted his teeth at the mention of Riku's name. He despised that boy for what he'd done to Tsuki. But then he realised that he didn't quite understand what Kira and DiZ had just been talking about. When he asked them what a Reverse was, DiZ explained to him about the light side of the Destiny Islands where there were people that had ties to the hearts of the people on the dark side. Kira was connected to Sora, Roka was connected to Kairi and Tsuki had been connected to Riku.

"But most importantly, should you ever meet any of these people, you cannot reveal that you come from the dark side of their world. Curiosity is a dangerous thing and if they were to find out that another part of their world existed, they would want to see it for themselves. And if even one light heart were to cross over into the dark side, or vice versa, balance would be upset and it would do great damage to the world's heart," DiZ concluded.

Hearing these important words, Kira turned and opened a dark portal near the entrance of the mansion's basement. She looked over her shoulder at DiZ and gave him a small smile.  
"Thank you. You've been a great help."

DiZ bowed his head slightly and watched Kira and Roka disappear into the corridor.


	9. One Day, You'll Be Smart Enough

**The End Of The World **

Kira had lost two friends in one day. One friend being the little mouse king she had followed and looked up to for what had seemed like years although their time together had only been brief. The second friend was her best friend in the whole world. They had known each other since they were children and had maintained a close friendship ever since.

Kira was only four-years-old when she met Tsuki for the first time. It was quite by accident, but as the years passed and as Kira often looked back on that day, she believed with all her heart that it was their destiny to cross paths.

Kira had decided to go for a walk through her small town one summer morning. She passed many houses of people she had never spoken to before and she could only smile awkwardly when they smiled and the little girl in the little pink dress. As Kira reached a pretty white house she noticed that a girl was sitting on the steps of the front porch. Kira smiled and skipped towards her. When she got close enough to get a good look, she noticed that she was playing with a small stuffed doll. It seemed to resemble the girl's pretty features in every way, from her long ginger hair to the pretty blue dress she was wearing.

"Hi there!" Kira said with a giggle.

The girl continued to play with the little doll, talking to it softly and making it reply in a high-pitched voice. Realising that she must not have heard her, Kira took a few steps across the front yard and tried again.  
"Hello~!"

The girl blinked and looked up sleepily, lowering the doll slightly.  
"Oh, so you _were _talking to me," she sounded surprised.

"Well, yeah, there's no one else around that I could be talking to," Kira laughed.

"I guess that's true," the girl smiled, carefully setting the doll on the step beside her.

"I'm Kira," Kira took a few more steps closer to the girl who greeted her with a polite smile.

"My name is Tsuki. Did you come here to visit me?" Tsuki asked.

Kira was standing half a metre away from her now. "Well, not really. I just went for a walk and saw sitting here all by yourself. It's a really nice day, don't you have some friends to go out and play with?" Kira wondered.

Tsuki looked down smiling as she shook her head.  
"No, I usually stay inside a lot, so I don't have any friends. But Little Tsuki here keeps me company just fine," she picked up the doll and stroked its hair.

"She's really pretty," Kira gushed, putting her hands to her cheeks as she drew in a quiet breath.

Tsuki smiled at the doll and then at Kira, "Would you like to hold her?"

Kira gasped into a big smile as she ran to the steps. Tsuki offered her the small doll which she held carefully in her in her arms as if it were a real baby girl.  
"How did you get a doll that looks just like you?" she asked without taking her eyes off the stuffed doll.

Tsuki laughed, "Daddy's a toy maker. He made a Little Tsuki doll just for me."

"Your dad sounds so cool!" Kira exclaimed, reluctantly giving the doll back to Tsuki.

Taking the doll, Tsuki laughed and looked away shyly.  
"Would you like to come inside and play?"

...

And that was it. That was the exact moment that the bond between Kira and Tsuki sparked and they had been best friends ever since.

Kira cringed as she walked through the dark new world, looking back on that day. She never would have guessed that her most cherished friend could be torn away from her so suddenly; nothing could have prepared her.

Kira had always seen Tsuki as a beautiful person, inside and out. Tsuki had never done anything to hurt anyone. But then, Kira recalled that strange nightmare she'd had, back when she was in Neverland. She suddenly realised that it hadn't just been a bad dream; it was a memory. Or part of one, at least. After a small misunderstanding, Tsuki became violent with Kira. It was normal for friends to argue every once and a while, but this had been different. For some reason, Tsuki had become full of what seemed liked genuine hate. And Kira, having no other option, used violence to defend herself. _Why were we even capable of getting into a fight like that? _Kira was turning the question over in her mind. She soon realised that the answer was clear. Darkness is hate. Anger. And because she and her friend had so much of it in their hearts, they were more likely to become violent like that. Then there was Roka, who came in time to stop the fight before it had got too bad. He hardly ever got angry. Kira guessed that it was because he wasn't born into a world of darkness. He came from somewhere else, so his heart was most likely normal. Not too much darkness, not too much light. That was where the nightmare and the memory stopped mirroring each other. Of course, there had been no figure in a black coat who had tried to take Roka away or anything. The three friends had just simply gone home after the incident.

_It's not fair. It's not fair that there's someone out there who gets to be the hero just because he was born into a world of light. I've only ever wanted to do the right thing. But because of my stupid dark heart, I might as well be an enemy to the world._

Both she and Roka remained silent as they made their way through the cave-like and open, empty places in The End of the World. Roka was scared and felt a sudden urge to grab Kira's arm, but he swallowed hard and continued to walk alongside his female companion.  
They entered a clearing where the ground was made up of light purple stone and they were surrounded by black jutting rocks that seemed to form a kind of fighting arena. They weren't startled at all when they caught sight of the figure standing on the other side of the small stone field. Roka tensed up immediately and stopped in his path; memories of Tsuki's piercing screams filled his mind, making him cringe. Kira quickly glanced back at Roka to make sure he was alright and then took a few strides forward, summoning her Keyblade. She breathed out slowly, feeling the cold blade in her gloved hand before inhaling deeply.

"Ikari!" she screamed at the figure standing with her back to her, about 10 metres away.

There was a moment of silence as Ikari slowly lifted her head, but she still didn't turn around.

Roka tried to be brave and stepped out from behind Kira, standing close to her to give her as much support as he could offer.

After a while, a quiet laughing sound came from Ikari's direction, getting louder and louder until she threw her head back, cackling like the psychopath she was. She spun around giggling with her hand up by her mouth.

Kira clenched her teeth and gripped her Keyblade tightly.  
"You…you've taken our friend away from us! You took our Tsuki…and I'm going to avenge my best friend!" she snarled, panting with adrenaline.

That made Ikari laugh even more. "You mean you really came all the way here to fight me just because I took your little Tsuki's life? Such devotion," she sneered.

Kira shook her head with reasonable force, making her purple fringe sway, "It's called loyalty! I'll avenge her even if it costs me my life!"

Ikari pulled out a long curved blade from behind her back and held it by the handle in the middle of it. It had a clean white bandage wrapped around it to make it sit more comfortably in her hand.  
"I don't have to kill you. That wasn't part of my job. But I guess if you attack first, we could call it self-defence? What do you think?" she smirked, raising her weapon and holding it out in front of her. But then she quickly lowered it and held it behind her back again.  
"Or…we could stick to the original plan and have you drive that Keyblade into your chest and kill _yourself?_ Your call, sweetie."

Kira's fist clenched the handle of her Keyblade even tighter. "And why would I want to do that?" she glared at Ikari with a fiery gaze.

"Why, to save someone you care about, of course. More specifically, to ensure the safety of that boy," Ikari's smirk was plastered on her pale-white face.

Kira followed her pointing finger and quickly realised that she was talking about Roka.

"Why would you want to hurt him? Why would you want to hurt any of us?! _What have we done?!_" Kira stood in front of Roka with her arms stretched out, making a human shield.

Roka stood his ground even from his place behind her back.

Ikari took a hand from her blade and used it to sweep her fringe back, only to have it fall back in front of her eye. "I have absolutely nothing against you. I mean, what have you done to me, right? See, this is all Organisation XIII's fault. You ever hear of them?"

Kira nodded slowly, lowering her arms.

Ikari continued, "Well recently they hired me to find some new recruits to join their ranks. Keyblade wielders, to be exact. The top three candidates were Tsuki, you and that boy, Sora. Now, that guy wasn't going to be a problem. They knew for sure that they were going to use him and that it would be easy enough to obtain him. But they still needed to decide whether or not they were going to use you; the feeble-minded little girl who was pretty good when it came to handling a blade, or Tsuki; the young woman with less skills in combat, but had a pretty damn strong heart to make up for it. Either one of you could be chosen to be Sora's backup if something went wrong.  
"So I trained Tsuki to become the best she could be. Good enough to join Organization XIII when the time came. And then you, of course, went off with that little mouse king. Unfortunately for Tsuki, even though she was getting pretty good at handling a Keyblade, she still didn't quite hit the mark. But, I got rid of her anyway so that the Organization might find some way to use her-"

Ikari stopped and breathed a short laugh as she saw tears forming in the corners of Kira's eyes.

"And now, here we are. The chosen member of Organization XIII now has to make her own choice: she could die to save a friend, or she could leave right now and I'll take care of Roka and tell Xemnas that he just has to put up with Tsuki. Which will it be?"

"Is there an option where I take you out right now and Roka and I walk away from all this?" Kira growled, her words fuelled by anger.

"Sweetie, I have control over your _life_. I can kill you easily and without much effort. You don't have a chance!" Ikari giggled. "But if you say so! Just remember, if you die, your Nobody has to go straight to the Organization, otherwise I'm coming after Roka. Deal?" Ikari took out her weapon again.

"Fine," Kira clenched her teeth; Ikari's sickly sweet tone was starting to sound like sharp nails on a chalkboard.

"Kira, wait! You can't win, we should just go! Use a corridor, we can outrun her!" Roka grabbed Kira's sleeve.

Kira looked back at him over her shoulder. Tsuki's scream still seemed to echo all around her. The only thing on Kira's mind was vengeance and nothing could turn her away from it or make her see reason.  
"No, I have to. I just…I have to," she said gravely.

"Then…then just let her take me! You'll be alright if you let her take me, won't you?"

"Roka, stop!"

Roka realised that Kira was about to cry and that didn't help reassure him at all. But then she smiled at him, genuinely, and put her free hand on the arm that held a tight grip on her sleeve. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Roka slowly let go of her shirt and stood back, close to tears himself. "I'm here for you," he whispered into a sigh of defeat.

Kira nodded and held her Keyblade tightly. Ikari who had been watching the whole emotional spectacle with great amusement laughed in a mocking tone. "Give it your best shot!"

Kira closed her eyes and blinked away tears as she ran full force towards her, raising her Keyblade and bringing it down hard as soon as she was close enough. Ikari blocked and countered with enough force to knock Kira to the ground, but not enough to keep her there. She was quickly on her feet again and struck her vixen foe with a three-hit combo that connected perfectly. Kira charged up the magic in her Keyblade and shot out a bolt of lightning which made Ikari drop to her knees with a sharp yelp of pain. Kira tried to hit her again, but Ikari blocked it by throwing her blade up before pushing her away with a growl.

"Not bad. The Organization made a good choice. But you'll have to be even better if you want to beat me!" Ikari worked her words into a mocking tune as she attacked fiercely.

Kira stepped to the side quickly and struck her from behind, sending Ikari flying a reasonable distance before she met the ground. She grunted as she tried to push herself up with her free hand, but Kira struck her again and her weapon flew from her grip. It slid across the ground, spinning well out of reach. Ikari gasped in a panic as she started to crawl towards it, but Kira's Keyblade was brought down on her again and she collapsed.

But Kira didn't stop there. She hit Ikari again and again, as hard as she could, screaming in anger and desperation each time. Tears returned to her eyes, but they only fuelled the raging fires inside her. Even when Ikari stopped trying to get up, Kira still didn't stop fighting her.

Ikari was still trying to think of a way to beat her. This fight hadn't gone the way she had planned at all. It was all supposed to be fun; just a little game. But Kira was a lot stronger than she looked and Ikari had to admit that she had lost this battle. But it wasn't over yet. Even though she used up most of her energy finishing Tsuki off, there had to be a little power left inside of her somewhere. There just had to be…

Kira was just about to deliver the final blow when Ikari sat up with her legs sprawled out on the ground. She had her fingers pressed to her temples. Kira stopped for a second, confused. But she quickly regained her focus, took a few steps back and then charged towards Ikari. She bent her knees low and pushed herself into the air, raising her Keyblade behind her. She got close to Ikari and started to bring it down in a jumping attack.

But suddenly she felt something jab at her heart, like something had pierced right through it.

She landed on her feet in front of Ikari who had taken her fingers off her temples and was now staring at her in confusion. Kira clutched her chest and she felt the thing push deeper into her heart, making her gasp in pain as she stumbled about. She lost her balance completely and started to fall backwards. It all happened in slow-motion as she felt the life slowly drain out of her. A tear ran down both of her cheeks. Her Keyblade slipped from her hand and landed on the ground, bouncing a little before disappearing. Kira's vision went black.

_Did Ikari do this to me? No, I don't think so. It was something else. Could it be…?_

_No…_

_No, not now._

_You should have waited, Sora. I almost had her. But if it was for someone you care about, then it couldn't wait. If it was for someone you care about, then that's okay._

_Sora?_

_Can you hear me?_

_I'd love to meet you someday._

_I bet you're brave…_

_You'd have to be… to die for someone you love._

"Kira! Kira! _Kira!_"

She fell into Roka's arms, head titling to the side with a slight rebound and her eyes still shut tight. He held her tightly with one hand behind her head and the other over her waist. Roka lifted her up to rest her head on his knee and moved the hand that was holding her side to her shoulder, shaking it gently but desperately.  
"No, Kira…not you, too. Please, Kira…wake up!" he begged with a sad crack in his voice.

Kira's eyes slid open a little way. "Roka, I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"What happened? Ikari didn't even-" He looked back over his shoulder and saw the last fragments of darkness of a Corridor fading away and realised that Ikari had already escaped. His attention was brought back to Kira as he heard his friend's small whispering voice.

"It's Sora. He's leaving now and I have to go with him."

"But it… it's just not fair! You don't deserve this!" Roka took Kira's limp hand in his and held it tightly.  
"You can't leave me all alone."

Kira reached into her pocket and pulled out two dolls; one that looked like her and the one that look Tsuki. Kira had been carrying her own doll with her throughout her whole journey.  
"You won't be alone… we'll always be with you. You'll take care of us, right?"  
She gave the dolls to Roka. He had to let go of her hand to take them.

"Kira, I…"

"Look! It's Tsuki! Can you see her?" Kira smiled wearily.

Roka looked beside him and saw only an empty space. But he smiled anyway. "Yeah, I can see her."

Kira could see Tsuki's glowing figure sitting next to Roka wearing a white dress. She was smiling as she reached out to touch Kira's face and she held it gently. A tear ran down Kira's cheek as she became overwhelmed with happiness. Her body began to glow with golden light.

"Roka…you're smart," she looked at her friend, the glowing orbs of light surrounding her and the tears that were forming made her amber eyes glisten.  
"So maybe one day you'll be smart enough to find a way…to bring us back."

With that, Kira's heart appeared as a shining sphere of light and darkness that rose slowly above their heads. Kira smiled, placing two of her fingers to her mouth as she gave them a kiss. Then she reached out and placed her fingers on Roka's lips, holding them there as her body started to shine with pallid light. Roka blinked a few tears away before taking the small gloved hand that was by his face, holding it tightly.

"So long, Roka," Kira breathed as her vision started to warp and become blurry.

"G-goodbye, Kira," Roka didn't even try to force a smile as he choked on his own words.

Kira looked up smiling at Roka's face and Tsuki's glowing image. It was the last thing she saw before she closed her eyes. She felt warm all over as her body disappeared into glowing orbs of light and she felt happy that she had left the world in the presence of her two best friends.

Roka there sat watching as the light from her heart flowed into Kira's stuffed doll and he hugged both her doll and Tsuki's to his chest. He looked up with tears in his eyes. He was completely alone with no idea how to get back home. Roka stood and saw a shadowy pathway in front of him and still clutching the dolls tightly in his hands, he ran towards it. He was sobbing and he had no idea where he was going, but still he ran into the darkness.

...

Roka had been wandering aimlessly in a forwards direction for what had seemed like hours. The path itself had remained the same for the whole pointless journey, but he had now reached a place where on either side of it was an endless abyss of darkness. He was on the brink of giving up when he heard a small voice call out to him.

"Excuse me! Are you okay?"

It was a girl and she wasn't standing too far away. Roka squinted his eyes to get a better look, but he couldn't see her very clearly, so he carefully put the dolls in his pockets of his jeans and jogged over to her.

"Are you okay?" the girl repeated in a concerned tone.

Roka saw that she had short red hair and was wearing a white top and a purple skirt. Her face was young and bright.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied even though he wasn't quite sure if it was the truth.

"Who are you?" the girl asked.

"I'm Roka, what's your name?"

"Kairi."

Roka's mouth opened slightly in shock.  
"Kairi?" he had to confirm that he had heard her correctly.

"Yes?"

_I'm not supposed to tell her what I am to her or where I'm from, _Roka remembered.

"That's a nice name. What are you doing here, Kairi?"

Kairi looked a little sad, "Well, my friend is here fighting a really bad person named Ansem. I had a wizard help me come here because if I didn't and he won the battle while I was in another world, we might not be able to go home together. That would be nice. I mean, we deserve it after everything we've been through. See, once he beats this man, all the worlds will be restored. He's really strong and brave, so I know he can do it!" she was smiling now.

Roka felt slightly less depressed. "So, what's the boy's name?" he was only trying to make conversation. Kairi was the first person he'd come across in what had seemed like an eternity and he didn't want to leave her just yet.

"His name? It's Sora," Kairi replied.

"Sora? As in…the Keyblade wielder?" Roka gasped.

"Yes! Do you know him?"

Roka rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, sort of. But I heard that he lost his heart, is that true?"

Kairi looked like she was remembering something bittersweet, "Yes, he put a Keyblade right though his chest. It's a long story, but by doing that, he saved me. And so when I found his Heartless, I used my powers to save him right back!"

_Sora's alive. Does that mean that Kira got her heart back, too?_

A grin slowly spread across Roka's face.

"So why are _you_ here?" Kairi interrupted his thoughts.

"Me? Well, I…" he stopped as a strange feeling suddenly came over him.

He felt weightless. A white, sparkling circle of light appeared around his feet. Soon the rest of him was glowing with white glitter as well.

"W-what's happening?" Kairi gasped, stepping back in shock.

"I think Sora did it! I'm going home," Roka said, looking up at the black emptiness above them.  
He looked back down again and smiled at her, "Till we meet again, Kairi," he laughed.

Kairi stared after the beam of light that rose upwards and took Roka away with it. She looked up anxiously at the blank space where it used to be. Suddenly, Kairi heard footsteps running towards her and turned to see Sora approach.

"Kairi!" he called out.

"Sora!"


	10. Waiting To Be Woken

**Hollow Bastion**

The Nobody appeared in the same place from which she had departed from. She found herself lying with her head against a fountain that had a small stream of water slowly trickling out from an ugly feature. The ends of her ginger hair were dipped in water and she pulled it out, gently drawing her hands along it to dry it. She pulled at the bottom of her torn black dress and placed her hands firmly on the edge of the fountain. Standing up on her new born legs, she looked around at the empty foyer of the castle that once housed an evil fairy, herself and one of her best friends. Her murderer had once lived here as well; the woman who had put on a sickly sweet façade and led her to her ultimate death.

She looked over at the door as it opened, scraping the ground in protest as someone pushed it from the other side. It was a girl; another Nobody like herself. Even though the hood of her black coat shrouded her face, she could tell by her slender and feminine figure. She was short, the same height as the best friend of her Somebody. She could also see purple hair showing from underneath her hood. But how could it be? Surely Kira hadn't been killed as well? Not that it stirred any emotions in the Nobody. She didn't have any.

The girl met her in the middle of the hall and stood there motionless. Maybe she was staring at her, but the Nobody couldn't see the girl's eyes behind the shadow that the hood cast on her face. Only seconds had passed in silence before a dark corridor appeared between them and a tall, manly figure stepped out of it. He commanded the corridor to disappear with a flick of his gloved wrist. The ginger-haired Nobody briskly walked around the figure to stand next to the girl on the other side. The figure stared at the two female Nobodies, grinning slyly at them.

"Chosen by Keyblades of Darkness. The abilities you possess will be put to good use amongst our ranks. However, I only require one of you," the hooded figure held a hand out in front of the purple-haired Nobody.

The name 'KIRA' appeared in gold letters in front of her. The figure swiped his hand across them and made the letters spin in a circle in the space between him and the girl. He flexed his fingers and an extra letter, an "X," joined the others. They then stopped spinning, now forming a new word.

"You have now been reborn…Number XIV," the figure told her.

The girl looked up at the word in front of her and said the name out loud in a confident voice.

"Xarki."

The figure opened a Corridor of Darkness and stepped through with Xarki following after him. The ginger Nobody stared at the dark portal as it disappeared when the two had left. She stood motionless and expressionless for a few moments before opening her own Corridor of Darkness. She disappeared into it and reappeared in another part of the castle. A small simple room with a dresser and mirror against one wall and two beds against another. No windows. The Nobody had few memories of this room, but she knew that the person who used to live in the castle had given it to her to sleep in while she was staying here. And so the Nobody decided that this was where she belonged. She walked slowly to the bed and pulled back the quilt. She lay in it and pulled the covers all the way up to her chin. The Nobody stared up at the ceiling, her eyes half open from weariness. The room was almost pitch black from the lack of spaces for light to get through. She knew that this room was where she must sleep. She would sleep and she would wait until the time came when someone would come to wake her up.

"_There's no one that can hurt you now/ you can hold my hand. You're my angel/ and I'll always be yours._"

**The End**

_FINAL NOTE: Well, holy mother of Xehanort, I actually did it! And so concludes part 1 of Kingdom Hearts: Dark Hearts. Let me just say, I'm reeeeally sorry it didn't have a very happy ending, but KH1, 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep didn't have particularly happy endings either, so y'know...just keeping with the original feel of Kingdom Hearts! But, of course, you didn't actually think that's where the story ended, right? (Oh, and I know that Xion is No. XIV, but there's an explanation as to why Xarki is also No. XIV. You'll just have to wait for it!) Part 2 is still in progress, but you can look forward to...  
Kira/Xarki's time in Organization XIII. Discovering that her heart has returned and that she is no longer a Nobody, she is determined to hide this secret from the Organization until she finds a way to escape.  
After sleeping for a whole year, Tsuki's Nobody is finally awoken by Riku who has returned to save her and get her heart back with the light that Roka has been keeping safe for her. Tsuki and Riku will be the main characters of Part 2 as they go on an adventure together in Disney worlds that weren't in the original games!__ Three new original characters will be introduced, as well!_

_And that's all I can tell you for the moment! Thanks for sticking with me till the end, you're absolutely amazing! See you soon~!_


End file.
